A rise in Skype weddings is allowing immigrants to legally gain American citizenship by exchanging vows from opposite ends of the globe, which was revealed today.

Moreover, many fear that the proxy online marriages, which allow a couple to wed in the absence of one or both spouses, will help facilitate marriage fraud, as well as see an increase in the number of sex trafficking victims.

In fact, the growing practice has so far flown under the radar of immigration authorities, who are yet to provide extra inspection to ensure video chat marriages are not misused

Not all U.S. states allow proxy marriages, however in Colorado, Texas, Montana, Alabama, Missouri, and California, couples separated by distance are permitted to marry via webcam. The process is illegal in all other American states, unless one partner is in the military.

In countries such as India, England, and Israel, proxy marriages via Skype are legally-binding. And because the U.S. recognizes a legal overseas wedding between an American and their foreign fiancé, many are saying 'I do' via Skype and registering the wedding on foreign soil so that the marriage is considered legal.

Punam Chowdhury, an American citizen, married her Bangladesh-based fiance, Tanvir Ahmmed, via Skype last month from a mosque in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Now the matter of fact remains that in order for the wedding to be recognized in the U.S., their Indian marriage certificate simply states it 'took place' in Bangladesh, where it was legally registered, instead of New York, where the practice is illegal. Hypothetically, if Miss Chowdhury was a Californian resident who wanted to live in California with her new husband, the proxy marriage would have been able to be legally registered in California.

George Andrews, the operations manager for North Carolina company, Proxy Marriage Now, helps to facilitate online global unions which is the first step in attaining a visa or citizenship for a spouse and his company performs approximately 500 video chat weddings per year, with 60per cent of those marriages not involving a military spouse. But as this seemingly innocent convenience becomes more widespread, with a lack of red-tape in many countries, it has raised concerns by officials, and even those who conduct or arrange these ceremonies.

A. Uddin, a community activist from Queens, said she stopped helping others officiate proxy weddings after several deceitful foreigners had blindsided lonely Americans to obtain a green card, rather than a partnership and that all people using marriage to apply for American citizenship are first interviewed by Homeland Security or State Department officials, in case of fraud, or even human trafficking who also mentioned that even though officials ask newlyweds the details of their wedding during immigration interviews, they generally do not seek specifics on whether it occurred via Skype, which if revealed, would raise a 'red-flag.

Adam Candeub, a professor at Michigan State University College of Law who has studied proxy marriage, said that part of the reason for having the two people come and appear before a priest or a judge is to make sure it is a freely chosen thing and that there are some problems with willy-nilly allowing anyone around the world to marry.

In fact some cases involving proxy marriages have enabled vulnerable women to be brought to the U.S., who then find themselves threatened into sex work by traffickers.

Archi Pyati, the deputy director of the Immigration Intervention Project at the Sanctuary for Families, said he has helped many women from West Africa who were married by proxy without their consent, or as children.

The technologically-advanced custom can be helpful for some couples, worried about leaving loved ones without benefits.

British-born Sean Murtagh, 24, and Australian Natalie Mead, 30, said 'I do' using Skype in 2011, after Volcanic ash in Iceland thwarted plans for their London wedding and that Skype allowed the wedding to be broadcast to family and friends in London where the marriage was registered.

American's Samuel Kim and Helen Oh, both 27, also married via Skype in 2011, the O.C. Journal Register reported and that after Mr Kim became ill with a lung infection, he married his finance using a webcam from his California hospital.

Skype commented at the time while they would never wish any couple to be apart for their own wedding, they are sure glad that Skype could play such a big role in the wedding of Samiel Kim and Helen Oh from Southern California, who couldn't be together on their wedding day.

'Unfortunately, Samiel was in the hospital, but that did not deter Helen from her big wedding day plans with 500 guests. The show must go on, and it did! thanks to a Skype video call connecting Helen and her soon to be husband, Samiel, while he was at the hospital.

Proxy marriages are not new....

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were first married in her native Austria in his absence, before she met him for the first time in France, and proxy marriages via telephone and telegraph have also been documented.

However with the growth in technology, immigrant communities are increasingly using the process, where first or second generation U.S. citizens, such as Miss Chowdhury, are able to marry a partner from their homelands.

The matter of fact remains remains that it's not just U.S. citizens choosing to tie the knot with their physically absent spouses using video chat instead of an alter.

In fact, many use webcam weddings to circumvent restrictive local laws, like those in Israel and other countries, which generally recognize mixed-religion marriages but refuse to perform them and that Israel, for example, recognizes proxy marriages registered abroad between Israelis who were not permitted to marry in Israel.

Whether it's physical marriage or digital the purpose should be to have a life long relationship and a family rather than just earning a citizenship. In the changing day of technological advancement we have even made purity of relationship as a show more than that a priority of once's citizenship! This will not make the world happy rather bring more sorrow and confusion for the generation to come.

Note: The above mentioned statement is intended towards those who are not using the technology with the right motive, rest all may enjoy and have a great life!

(AW:Samrat Biswas)