Chip00 said:
As far as the visa goes the K-1 visa is the fastest. A cousin of my wife was petioned using the K-1 visa and the process took less 6 months in 2004. You can call your local congressmen to see if it can be expedited. I did this for my wife's visa and I'm sure it took a few months off of the total time but still took over a whole year as I petitioned her as my wife as opposed to my fiancee. I was grossly misinformed by someone at the US Embassy here in the DR and for that me and my wife and daughter had to be apart for more than nine months. BE VERY CAREFUL in believing what info you get from the Embassy, especially if it doesn't come from an american. There is a tangible disrespect dominicans at the embassy have for their own countrymen from my experience.
Chip00: the highlighted part of your post does not apply to the current situation at the Embassy/Consulate in DR. As you stated, this was waaaayyy back in 2004, as of today's date, the actual waiting period for a Fiance or a Marriage based visa is just about the same: 18-24 months total waiting time!
The only difference right now in both visas is that if you go the K-3 route, married, you won't have much to do once your wife is here in the states, and it would save some money in the long run...but the wait is just about the same!
The part about not trusting anyone is right on!!!
cdi747: If you decide to go the Fiance route, you could contact your congressmen/senators/elected officials in your hometown, explain the whole situation, including what I'm saying about the loooonnnggg waiting time in the DR, the longest in the world for a US citizen to petition a fiance or family member, and they might be able to help expedite the case due to the extenuating circumstances with your fiance, although there is no guarantee.
Good luck!
MQ