Gricel Y Arturo

Being geographically separated does not necessitate having to do a K-1 visa, everybody has this choice, regardless of geographical situations. Many of us marry our long distance partners in the foreign country. My wife and I chose to get married in Colombia so her family could be there, so that she would come to the US as my wife, not fiancee and so that within a month after her arrival, she would have her 2 year GC. It turns out that the CR-1 is cheaper as well. I had to meet the requirements as a foreigner marrying in Colombia, we went to the notary and they advised us what I needed to bring to get married. I had to get a declaration of single hood and birth certificate, both had to have apostilles, I also had to provide a copy of my passport, everything had to be translated to Spanish. My wife had to provide her civil documents as well to the notary.
The CR-1 is an immigrant visa so it tends to take a little longer because there are more steps for an immigrant visa. The K-1 is a non-immigrant visa and gives the person the right to enter the US and marry a US Citizen within 90 days, less steps, so it may process faster.
I would do the CR-1 again, I would rather have my wife wait the extra time in her country, then spend the months of time waiting in the US to get the work authorization, it is not good for my wife to sit idle. With the CR-1, she can hit the ground running. With K-1, she has to apply for work authorization, apply to be able to leave the country, adjust status, and we have to pay more money. Also, her coming as my wife was the right thing for us. Sure, there is the potential to be together sooner with the K-1, you do not have to deal with marriage in a foreign jurisdiction, but the benefits of the CR-1 were more attractive for us.
Also, the time of filing the I-130 after the marriage is not significant, you could file the day after the wedding without a problem. I mailed the I-130 24 days after our marriage, I had to come back to the US, have some documents translated, it was Christmas time so that slowed the translations down. Finally had everything ready to go on 01/03/2012.
Hope this helps.