Can marrying a U.S. citizen prevent you from being deported?

Question

I understand that getting married in order to avoid immigration issues is fraud. That's not what I'm talking about. I just want to know, if the marriage is legitimate, how does it work? If I was to marry an immigrant, could she still be deported? And if so, and she was deported, what/how long would it take to get her back to the U.S. permanently?

Answer 1

If your wife entered the country legally (for example on any non immigration visa), and she is not curremtly under a deportion order, then she can apply for an adjustment of status as your wife.  

Answer 2

dognhorsemom above me knows what she(?) is talking about. I can confirm that that's the way things work.

Answer 3

Marriage will not stop deportation if it is in process.  If you marry a person who entered legally but then overstayed, she can still apply for adjustment of status based on the marriage, and be granted a green card if no other ineligibility exists.

If she entered illegally, she cannot adjust.  You can, however, still petition for her as an immigrant and then, when she applies for the visa outside the US, you can include in her application package a request for a waiver of her ineligibility (there's a form for this), but it will be up to the USCIS office that has jurisdiction over the place where she applies to decide if it will approve the waiver or not.  If the waiver is not approved, she will have to wait until her ineligibility runs out: this is five years for an illegal overstay of up to a year, and ten years for one year or more.

This was the very short answer.  There is also a very long answer that includes form numbers and lots of advice.

Answer 4

If you marry an illegal alien, she will be deported and barred from re-entry for 10 years.  After the ban expired, you could apply for her spousal visa.  It will be difficult to get it approved because of her history of immigration-law violations.  And since you will not be living together during her ban and the spousal visa application processing period, it will be extremely difficult to prove that you have a valid marriage.  It can take 2 years or more to process a spousal visa.

Be prepared to immigrate to her country of citizenship.