We went through the Fiance Visa program and it wasn't a big deal, but the foreign one of us was Canadian, which is on the we like that country list, which probably helped a lot.

You have to follow special rules for the fiance visa program, and most all the paperwork happens before you get married.

The big thing I remember(it's been decades now), there was a fee we had to pay at one of the consulates somewhere, and they gave us 2 receipts, a big fancy full page one and the tiny cash register receipt. Way afterwards they made us prove we paid the fee. They wanted the tiny cash register receipt, not the fancy full page one. Make sure you keep literally everything , you have no idea what might be important later on.

I'm not saying the fiance visa is right for you in your situation, just mentioning it in case you are not aware.