I'm sure he knows. If they have been interacting frequently over the internet, maybe they really like each other. Either way, I would stay out of it and be happy for him. He'll figure it out if she's only after getting a green card.

Thanks, Jenn, I sort of thought that. It's just odd because I've known him over a year and he always acts/says he doesn't have a girlfriend and implies he can't get one because of his health situation, and had never mentioned this girl before. He has even talked about liking other girls, etc... so I found it extra strange that he had this internet 'girlfriend' he forgot to mention. Maybe he was just embarassed or it just got serious??? He doesn't have a lot of self esteem and I just feel like he may be settling for less than he should and would really hate to see him be taken advantage of.

I'm a Canadian living in the USA on a Greencard, sure didn't move here just for the card,lol. I visit one Immigration site a lot (great site for immigration advice that relate to relationships) and yes there are a lot of USA/Filipino couples. Are they legit, who knows, they seem happy! Makes one go hmmmmm when u see an older guy with a much younger gal! But who says it isn't love! I have been to the Philippines on business a few times, and well, the people are very nice, but some do live in harsh circumstances! And yes there are stories on that forum where the guy/gal comes over from another country, and then disappears! On some visas it doesnt do much good to come and just leave as one doesnt get the green card (permanenet residence card right away) if she came over on a K1 visa (fiance visa, not married yet) Which takes awhile to get (around 6 months or so) once she enters the USA,they have 90 dyas to get married, blah blah blah, plus more paperwork after that before she would get the greencard. But he is liable for her(to support her, she cant claim welfare,etc) site im talking about is visajourney.com great site for Immigrating to the USA on a relationship visa (not work related, just fiance or married)
Hope it works out for ur friend!!

The green-card scam has been going on more-or-less forever. Typically foreign women with US men, but it does work both ways. I would encourage your friend to be cautious. Internet-only contact? Doubly cautious.

The son of our friends married a gal in the Philippines, he didn't know her and I thought that was strange. She was a female relative of some of his friends. I suspected that he did it as a favor to get her into this country and still do. About that time he had a new home built for his parents and his new bride was taking care of them when he had to work in Sweden as he did most of the year. Seemed like a nice arrangement. the parents thought she was a wonderful daughter.

"Seemed like a nice arrangement"

What?... Marrying someone you don't know and putting them on a subservient level? I guess I'm just not really seeing anything positive about that. Isn't there a name for girls that marry for things other than love? It's exactly the thing I am afraid of for my friend.

I know my friend isn't looking for a housekeeper for his parents or someone that just wants a green card; I think he's looking for true love; just still not sure he'll be able to find it this way and not sure how/if I should even bring up the issue with him. He's really, really had a tough life, I seriously think getting into a bad situation with this could one way or another kill him. It'd be nice to think he's found true love; but from the little I know, I'm just not seeing it. And, he's not some older man looking for a young chick; he's quite young himself just with some serious health issues that has made him quite lonely. How do you help someone who has such low self esteem when you really don't think they know what they are doing? I feel damned if I do and damned if I don't.