How long does a fiancee visa take?

As an Australian I can say that it was pretty easy all things considered, the whole thing took little over 6 months to get my wife her residency, the main thing was handing in the forms and that was all it took.
Maybe it was easier for my wife because she has a good western education but in the end they asked us for very few things. 

My impression is that the major difficulty for American FTs hoping to bring a foreign spouse back to the US is meeting the earnings requirement. To be able to sponsor your husband/wife for an immigrant visa, you need to be able to show that you work and earn a salary above a certain amount (either the poverty line or 150% of it, I think). Many FTs don't have the paperwork to prove this (even though all you need is your latest tax return…). In that case, it's necessary to find someone else (like a relative) to sponsor her.

Getting a US tourist visa for my darling was a little challenging.  The online form kept timing out.  Here's a helpful hint - make the answer to your security question very short and easy to type - you'll have to do it at least 20 times before getting the whole form filled out.

She went to the interview with a ton of documentation - including our marriage certificates and my passport - proof of ownership.   The inquisitor interviewer glanced at her employment contract and one or two other items, asked a few questions.  When we met, when we were married, what her job was, and then passed her.  I'd say being over-prepared helps.


Here's a helpful list of things not to have your wife/fiancee say:

I met him at a bar 2 months ago, got married to him one month ago, and I want to get to America before the baby is born.

He'll be my 4th foreign husband.  The last 3 couldn't get me a visa.

I met many foreigners working at that pink hair saloon, but he was the first one who agreed to marry me.

How long until I can divorce him and keep my greencard?

Once I have a greencard, how hard will it be to bring over my parents, siblings, and cousins?

Do I really have to have sex with him for the marriage to be legal enough to get me a visa?

Good stuff here, even from EL.
El Macho is right...you will have to demonstrate an ability to make a living in the USA once you arrive there with your foreign spouse. You need either substantial liquifiable assets, or a job with a salary of around 150% of the US poverty line, or someone who has such financial abilities who is willing to sponsor the spouse. These can be very hard things for most people teaching in China to come up with.

Hell, these days it's hard for many people already here to meet the quals.

I've heard of Chinese spouses having success with an American tourist visa recently by showing that the American husband/wife had a long term job in China -- usually by presenting a contract or a notarized statement from their employer. That would only really apply if you were already married though. Raoul is right that it can in some instances be harder for married couples or fiances to get tourist visas because American generally doesn't want people using tourist visas as a way to circumvent the greencard process.

I (personally) wouldn't go for an immigration type visa unless you were really ready to settled down in the States. They are expensive, stressful, and time consuming. My husband and I have gone back and forth on this issue a lot but until we're absolutely ready to go back, that is, we could step on the plane within the next 6 months and have no qualms about staying in the States for at least the next 5 years or so, we are putting off any visas that are intended to end up in a greencard. If you really just want a visit I would exhaust all possibilities with the tourist visa first. It might not be as impossible as it seems and some people do just get lucky.

I've heard of Chinese spouses having success with an American tourist visa recently by showing that the American husband/wife had a long term job in China...

TLD, were the American spouses English teachers? Hard to imagine, since teaching English in China is intrinsically NOT a long-term job...not when most contracts are one year or less.

I've gathered that expat teachers (other than, perhaps, teachers working at top international schools) are often not highly esteemed by their Consular officials.
Gosh, can't imagine why.

But then I've been surprised by visa matters before...

RD, yep, a teacher at my old school! The contract was also brand new, and the teacher got a stamped letter from the school saying that the teacher was indeed an employee and was expected to return by such and such a date. Since these are tourist visas all the embassy really wants to know is that you're going to be back (you, the foreigner, and presumably bringing your spouse back with you), not necessarily that you're going to stay in China forever. Chinese people can try the job thing too, with a letter from their own employer, I just think the embassy tends to put more weight on the word of their own citizens.

But you know how it is with these things too. They'll reject you if you look at them the wrong way so maybe the visa officer was just feeling generous. I was given the contract advice by several people when thinking about getting my own husband a tourist visa so I think it wasn't just a fluke, although maybe not a hard and fast rule either.