Proving our love to the U.S. Government

(Source)
I have to admit, I never thought I would have to prove my love to the U.S. government in order to be able to get married. Yet somehow that's where we found ourselves. Because Mr. Tango only had a tourist visa, we realized we couldn't get married without it being a felony (He would have 'entered the country under false premises'). Needless to say, we began the K-1 Fiancé visa process as quickly as possible.

For those of you unfamiliar with the process, here are the basic steps to be able to marry someone from another country (there are 23 steps, so this is a summary).

1. 1. U.S. citizen submits petition to be able to have fiance apply for visa
2. 2. Once approved (4-5 months), start visa application process. Submit proof of your relationship (including love letters, pictures, and anything else you can think of). Get medical exams, police records, birth certificates, and other required tests.
3. Get visa interview in U.S. embassy, enter country, present documents, get married.
4. Get a social security number, apply for adjustment of status and work permit.
5. Go through interviews, biometrics, and wait.

So far we've submitted hundreds of documents, waited for months and months between steps, hit numerous roadblocks (after having the K-1 visa approved, someone accidentally put it in the system as an R-1, which almost caused 9 months of work to go down the drain through no fault of ours), and been very humbled.

Throughout everything, we've come to the conclusion that proving our love to the government has made us appreciate it even more. The challenges we encounter early on are going to make everything afterwards seem that much easier. What about you? Have you gone through anything that has made you stronger as a couple?