How Fiance visa works

[Robb]

Hi, my Friend's girlfriend wants to sponsor him to come to US and they never met in person. He lives in Ethiopia but hey call each other and they love each other so my question is, can she sponsor him even if she never met him? The other I have is how long does fiancee visa take to process?
thank you.

[scientist2016]

K1 visa (fiance visa) requires evidence of a face to face meet in the recent past, so that is out of the question. So one way is for your friend's girlfriend to first visit him in Ethiopia, and then file for a K1. The otherway would be for your friend to visit the US on a visitor's visa (that would require no sponsorship), and after his return to Ethiopia, he and his girl friend can decide what to do next.