Marriage Without a K1

My fiance and I really want to get married in the right way so he doesn't get kicked out, cause we both will hate that. He is from New Zealand. :D

I talked to a lawyer who said we don't need to get Fiance visa. We can just get married then give her the Certificate and she'll do the rest. I was wondering if thats a good way to go? How long does the paperwork take usually? Cause one a Visitors Visa(or Visitor Wavier) he only has 3 months to stay and that's it. Will he have to go back to NZ and wait?

And I head that we shouldn't do it that way from my sister who looked everything up, cause she was going to marry his best friend. >.> But I really don't trust a word she says.

Or should we just do the K1 Visa? It takes a long time. And the Lawyer said that if we do it that way, we'll just be wasting money. And that the Fiance visa is more for people who are not sure they want to live in this country, and don't have a different way of coming here.

Also will he be able to keep his citizenship with NZ? His country allows dual, but ours does not.

I just want another opinion on this please :)
and we need all the information we can get, we just don't want to get this wrong and have to live without each-other :(

If you get married before the 90 days are up it might present a problem once you actually submit the application. You will have to be able to show that you married more or less on the spur of the moment and neither of you had any intent to marry when he actually entered the country.

Marrying AFTER the 90 day period has expired used to make that a little easier to prove (though it sounds counterintuitive). These days I'm not sure if it would make a difference. If that's the route you want to take, I'd spend the extra money and get another consultation with a different attorney.

The one you spoke to is more or less correct, but a second professional opinion never hurts.

Even though the K1 route is more expensive and requires your fiance to leave the country for awhile - could be as long as 9 months or so - it's the cleanest way to go and will generally ensure there are no problems at all. It's also the way I'd recommend.

(Fwiw, I entered on the VW years ago - and married a US citizen after the 90 day period was up. I adjusted status legally, with no penalty and no problems)