Sunnyland

You show me two people who got their fiance visas issued in 6 months and I'll eat my hat!

Get married in Canada when she arrives there in April. As soon as the marriage certificate arrives (nothing is fast in Canada) start the CR1. That way you can keep your religious ceremony in India.
BTW since she wil be on a student visa she can interview in Canada. Religious ceremony will also be grounds for a K1 denial in Canada too. 
 
Oh and your friend suggesting the 'one step process' is giving bad advice. Entering the US with intent to adjust status is fraud. Start ignoring that friends advice.

Thank you for confirming my suspicions that we were about to go down the wrong path.  It's definitely not our intention to commit fraud. However, I wrongfully assumed that she could apply to adjust her status while visiting given that is the only way she can lawfully be in the US.  We will submit an i-824 to have her approved petition sent to the embassy in her country and she will complete the process at home. 

I will say thank you to you, since you were the only person to answer the question without your hair catching on fire and jumping to conclusions lol

She's in a new country for the first time, this is a HUGE adjustment for some people.  She has no family or friends other than you.  You're probably at work all day and she can't work or travel outside the US until EAD/AP, which takes 6 months after you file AOS.  What does she do all day?  Watch TV?  It's a very tough situation even for an emotionally stable person.  She's taking Chantix, also anti-anxiety medication and sleeping pills.  Chantix as you say can cause depression and sometimes it takes a few weeks for a new medication to show side effects.  All of this combined and she's not happy and wants to go home.
 
If you really love her, don't give up so quickly and file for a divorce on Monday morning.  Of course she is an adult and can do what she wants to, but I would suggest, given her fragile condition and three medications she is taking, to get another medical opinion about her medications if she is wiling.  Also try to go to a good marriage counselor together.  She needs professional help but she will have to be on board.
 
If she is determined to leave, even after you offer to help her in overcoming the depression, anxiety, homesickness, and the doubts she is having about your marriage, there's nothing you can do but offer to get her a plane ticket home and wish her well.  Would you be willing to move to Japan to live with her?
 
So sorry this has happened so suddenly, but based on your post she is clearly struggling on many levels and I hope you can help her to get through this.  Good luck.

A $700 plane ticket is out of the question but you want to start a family? Boy are you in for a rude awakening regarding the cost of raising a family. 
 
Did I read that correctly? You are wanting to start a family with someone you haven’t seen for years and have never been alone with? Sounds like infatuation to me. 

I agree, me and my fiance agreed it would be best to have a small wedding in the courthouse done  by the judge than to spend large amounts on a big fancy wedding, then a small gathering "pot luck" after with the cake haha.  Beats starting the marriage out in a  debt, and my finance are getting spread thin through this visa process and keeping up visits every other month.  😅

Even in the off-chance that USCIS approves your hardship K1 petition, my biggest concern for your case is the affidavit of support portion of the K1 Visa process.  You'll have to prove to the USCIS in the K1 interview that you can solely support your fiancee financially.  By claiming that you have financial hardship as the basis for not seeing your fiancee in the past two years, you are basically removing any chances of proving to the USCIS that you can support your fiancee financially once she arrives in the US.

Spend the money, spend a week there. Everyone has to make the time and sacrifice no matter the situation.

OP,  my then boyfriend (now husband) came to see me in Argentina during our relationship 3 times. The last time he did it was after he had lost his job (I helped with half of the ticket). Then when he went back home he found a job and we did the K1.  If you have not seen this person in the last few years, you will need to invest the time to meet again and see if anything changed in your relationship because people change during the years, you know?

OP,  my then boyfriend (now husband) came to see me in Argentina during our relationship 3 times. The last time he did it was after he had lost his job (I helped with half of the ticket). Then when he went back home he found a job and we did the K1.  If you have not seen this person in the last few years, you will need to invest the time to meet again and see if anything changed in your relationship because people change during the years, you know?

From her perspective:  If my fiancé had ever once said “I would rather save the money than SEE you”, well, we definitely wouldn’t be married.
 
You have to put in the effort.  It’s expensive, yes.  It’s not always easy to coordinate the time, yes.  But it’s worth it.
 
Besides, phone calls and texts are great and all, but can you truly have a solid relationship ready for marriage with someone you haven’t seen in 6-7 years?  People change all the time.
 

Anything is possible.  Submit in your application with the fees and see what will happen.
 
They might change the rules just for you

If you're so low on money you can't afford the plane ticket, how are you planning on affording K1 and AOS fees?
(ofc it's out of question anyway until you meet in person)

You know what extreme hardship is?
 
If you'd be so sick you wouldn't be able to leave a hospital bed and have a long list of medical reasons for why you can't travel AND your fiance would need a history of refused visas to US to try to visit you. And even then, getting a waiver would be HARD.
 
Being cheap is not a hardship.

Hahahahha no. 
 
Omg that's actually hilarious.
 
Please call USCIS that you want them to waive the MOST important requirement of K1 Visa because you dont want to spend money on a plane ticket. Amazing. 

This is one of the BIG limitations with a K-1......Sorry, but I think the DMV person is correct.

I haven't left my house more than 6 times in the 6 months I've been waiting. Join the club.

Was this the same mother you tried to extend a visa for by going to Canada and returning last year?
 

I was about to do the same thing back then but we realized it will just jeopardize the whole K1 process. We waited for 6months before we did our catholic church wedding back in the Philippines. 

"he said that it would actually help because we would have pictures." Your lawyer is giving you bad advise. Having pictures of a wedding will not help the K1 visa process. Some people have been denied because the consul believes they are already married. I'd suggest postpone the Catholic wedding until after you are done with the legal wedding in US.

Update: I married legally and had a religious wedding in Mexico last summer. I submitted the I-130, petition for alien relative, last November.

OP, if the church wedding is so important then just do it right and make it legal. After you get your marriage certificate file for spouse visa. Don't risk it to being denied in the middle of the process and waste all that time and $$$. 
In my country first you ard and courthouse and then later on you marry at church (if you are catholic of course).  If that ceremony makes you married in the yes of God and your family, then it will be in the eyes of immigration. 
Do the spouse visa instead after you marry in August. 

In my case, from the moment I sent my RFE evidence they requested, it took about 1 month or less to get their approval letter. I remember I sent it within 2 days of receiving my RFE. 

It’s admirable that you want to give your child “a better future” but part of that is having his mother with him from birth. Leaving him behind so you can pursue your dream of living in the US is not the best option for him. With motherhood comes sacrifices. Why not wait until your parents have immigrated and they can petition you (assuming you don’t get married) and the baby will be your derivative. It’ll take longer to reach your dream, but that’s life.