One group of clients Ban Ying caters to are women "marriage migrants". Due to their residence status depending on the continuance of their marriage, they are in a very vulnerable situation. Before being granted an independent legal status, they have to verify that they have cohabited with their husband for at least 2 years after being issued with their legal status which is dependent on the marriage (section 31, Residence Act - Aufenthaltsgesetz). After this period, the legal status is no longer tied to living with the spouse but the foreigners' registration office may require that the migrant woman can verify she has independent funding in order to extend it. If a continuation of the marriage would mean undue hardship it is also possible to receive an independent legal status before the end of these 2 years, but in this case an extension of the independent legal status may also require verification of independent funding. For migrant women subjected to violence, this means that they either stay in an abusive situation or run the risk of losing their legal status. Many of these women come to Ban Ying for counselling.

Since August 2007, the structural vulnerability of marriage migrants has intensified. Since then, it is required by law that spouses coming to live in Germany acquire a knowledge of the German language before entering the country - therefore usually in the country of origin - and must prove this with a certificate issued by the Goethe-Institute.
Since May 2008, Ban Ying has made first contacts with women who have entered the country with a certified knowledge of the German language. They reported, for example, that the process of their migration was considerably delayed by the German language examination and put a lot of financial pressure on them. None of these women was able to pay for the costs on their own; therefore the costs were advanced by their future husbands. Consequently, some of the husbands were of the opinion that they had "invested" a lot into the women coming to Germany and could therefore expect "service in return". A few women reported that after their arrival their husbands expected them to "work off the debt". In such constellations this regulation increases the vulnerability of marriage migrants.

There are exceptions for EU citizens and nationals from Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, USA, Andorra, Honduras, Monaco and San Marino (section 41 of the Residence Ordinance - Aufenthaltsverordnung). When put into practice, these regulations lead to certain consequences that do not seem to make logical sense. For example, family members from non-EU states coming to Germany to reunite with their family members from EU countries residing in Germany do not need to have knowledge of German. This means that if a Thai woman wants to get married to an Italian living in Germany, she is allowed to enter the country without in advance having to pass a German language exam. However, if she wants to marry a German she must have proof of having taken the respective language examination. Spouses of nationals coming from the countries advantaged in section 41 of the Residence Ordinance do not need to take a German language exam prior to their arrival in Germany - if they are getting married to a fellow countryperson. In these cases one can proceed on the assumption that natives are being discriminated against since EU citizens and nationals of the countries mentioned above have more extensive rights than Germans.

The German legislator has repeatedly emphasized that the aim of introducing this regulation was to protect victims of forced marriages. In the case of Thailand, the political discussion was not so much focused on forced marriages but on trafficking for the purpose of marriage which is to be stopped. Not only is there a lack of measures within the legal package that would adequately protect women forced into marriage or trafficked wives, but it is also not comprehensible why the German federal government does not make use of the opportunities provided within German classes or during the issuance of visas to inform the women about their rights in Germany and to provide them with resources in case of emergency. Revealingly, contact with Ban Ying was made during the respective integration classes the women took part in after coming to Germany. In the country of origin, information about help offered in Germany was neither provided during the German classes nor when the women took the German language exam at the Goethe-Institute nor by the German embassy.