My wife and I thought that we knew the definition well, in an international couple the partners come from different countries, therefore the word 'international'. Upon starting this blog, though, we have dived deeper into the definition and saw that 'international couples' is actually acquiring a number of different meanings, combining them together.
The European Union Commission, while explaining the property rights for international couples writes "New European rules on property rights will simplify legal aspects of separation, divorce and death for couples with different nationalities and couples living in different countries". Therefore, in addition to couples with different nationalities, they refer to international couples also to those couples that are same nationality but living in a different country. Actually, according to the EU Commissions those couples would be a staggering 16 million!
On the overall then, it would seem that even an international element would qualify a couple as international.Furthermore, on the Euopen Union's portal Europa.eu they go into greater details by specifying that "International couples could include spouses who live outside of their home Member State, come from different countries, or have assets in a number of Member States. International marriages and registered partnerships are considered international couples." while "International marriages include marriages between: two EU nationals from different EU countries or two nationals from the same or different third countries one EU national from an EU Member State and one national from a third country two EU nationals living in a third country two EU nationals having assets in a third country couples which acquire or are owners of a property in a Member State other than their country of origin".
As The Economist article Herr and Madame, Señor and Mrs points out, it is quite tricky to define what truly is international. Indeed, it is easy to define a marriage between a local person with another coming from a different country as international, but what about a marriage between two foreigners in a third country?
Moreover, as far as races are concerned, it is easy to define a marriage between an Afro-American and a Caucasian person as international but how would you define the union between an American and a Native American person? Would it be interracial, international or multicultural?
Definitions and statistics apart, we celebrate love and happiness between people coming from different countries, races and backgrounds, languages etc. We believe that our relationships are probably more demanding, but satisfaction is higher too.
Are you worried about definitions or labels? Because I'm not.
What do you think makes International Couples so special? Would you define yourself an International Couple?
