This study examines the patterns of interracial marriage and interethnic marriage among foreign-born Asians in the United States, using pooled data from the 2008–2012 American Community Surveys. Results show that the most dominant pattern of marriage among foreign-born Asians was still intra-ethnic marriage and that interracial marriage, especially with whites, rather than interethnic marriage among Asians, remained the dominant pattern of intermarriages. Out of all foreign-born Asian marriages, inter-Asian marriages stayed at only about 3%. Among all foreign-born Asian groups, Japanese were most likely to marry interracially and interethnically, while Asian Indians had the lowest rates of interracial marriage and interethnic marriage. Foreign-born Asian women were more likely to interracially marry, especially with whites, than foreign-born Asian men, but they were not much different from foreign-born Asian men in terms of their interethnic marriage rate. The findings have significant implications for intermarriage research, assimilation, and Asian American panethnicity.

The Asian population has the highest rate of intermarriages in the United States but with limited research on the determinants of intermarriages among foreign-born Asians. Social exchange theory, status inconsistency theory, and assimilation theory were utilized to explain intermarriage among foreign-born Asians. Data from the 2008 to 2012 American Community Survey and multinomial logistic regression were used to analyze the theoretical framework and hypotheses on the determinants of intermarriages. The results show the determinants of intermarriages among Asian immigrants with the findings supporting the hypotheses for age, sex, income, education, English proficiency, length of residency, and migration. Results also support most of the hypotheses for status inconsistency on income and education across householders and spouses. Future implications address research on Asian American panethnicity and solidarity.