We now have a side email group of about 15 people who have gone through the fiancee visa process. And I can now categorically say that there is no logic whatsoever in the process.

There was absolutely no consistency in their handling of the applications. In fact, of the group, mine would have logically been the easiest. We had known each other a year, I had traveled to the DR 7 times in that year, I had a high-priced immigration attorney that only dealt with fiancee visas and I am a vice president at a large company, with plenty of assets. Still, my application kept getting "lost" and finally if it had not been for the intercession of my congressman's office 9 months later, our applications would likely still be getting lost.

I have said this a number of times to numerous people: applying logic to the immigration process with the US Consulate in the DR is a futile process. They are under tremendous pressure because the DR has been identified by the Justice Department as being one of the few countries in the world with an "extremely high" visa fraud rate and I read somewhere that they process some 40,000 applications a year. The only logic worth applying is that these people are likely overworked and understaffed and problems flow from that.

Still, unless your Dominican friend qualifies for a visitor visa (owns their own home, has lots of assets and a great job), the fiancee visa is just about the only way to go.