Marriage does *NOT* make her a citizen! IIRC it was 5 years from when I married a foreigner until she had citizenship.

If she already has a green card there's nothing they need to do, if she doesn't there's a lot of paperwork.

I haven't done immigration law in more than 20 years, but the only reason I can think of that a person can't leave a state has to do with the legal system (ie, it would be a parole violation). I never practiced criminal law, so I could be dead wrong.

This sounds like someone who doesn't understand what is going on talking to someone else who doesn't know what is going on.

As others have said, if she has a green card, she is legal. She is a permanent resident and after five years and meeting legal requirements, she can apply for citizenship.

If she has overstayed a visa or is in the country illegally, she should consult an immigration lawyer to determine the best way to regularize her status.

This is good advice: unless she's a permanent resident, if she's ever been in the country illegally for six months or longer she will need to take extra steps to gain legal status. It's quite complicated even with marriage to a citizen, and a lawyer is definitely recommended to avoid a 3- or 10- year ban on entering the US.

Once she has a "green" card, assuming it's obtained through marriage to a citizen, she may apply to naturalize after 3 years, not the 5 years that most other permanent residents have to wait.

From experience, I know that the immigration inspection station in Texas on I-10 is definitely on the east bound side of the highway. I'm not sure if they check the west bound direction as well as I have never driven in that direction on that stretch of highway.

There are definitely checkpoints between Texas and California. But if she has a green card it is a moot point and is irrelevant. If she is here illegally but is married to your son who is a citizen she would be wise to return to her home country immediately and do the paperwork properly before she gets caught breaking the law here and screws up what should otherwise be a fairly strait forward process. Getting a spousal visa can get a whole lot more complicated if you are caught in the country illegally. Why risk it if it takes 6 months to do it without breaking the law.

that's ABSOLUTELY wrong advice. if you are married to US citizen and are inside the country, you apply for "adjustment of status" while staying in the country. as soon as you file you are granted the right to continue staying in the country (legally) while your file is processed. then decision is made to give you permanent residency (green card) or not. absolutely no need to leave the country. if you do, you will not come back for 10 yrs, married to US citizen or not.

I am married to a (former) non-US person. Marriage did not give him automatic anything as far as the US government was concerned. Marriage to a citizen does not automatically grant citizenship, lawful residence, any right to live in US or any legal status. You can apply for legal status but there is paperwork that must be done. She can be denied residence status and certainly citizenship. Being married to an American is not a guarantee of anything. Get a lawyer if she has no status or questionable status, and the quicker the better.

Has your son notified the military that he is now married with a new dependent? Aren't there rules about getting married while on active duty? Your new daughter-in-law will be eligible for certain perks as a military wife. Make sure and find out what they are and how to access them. This will probably include health care and PX privileges at a minimum and probably housing allowance etc.

Is this post for real? Your son got married and you don't know anything about the girl? You'd best talk to your son about this. Also, posting on an immigration forum/talking to a lawyer would be much better.

If she has her green card, she's very legal and will be able to stay in the US forever on that provided she renews it and doesn't give up residency.

Getting married to a USC (citizen) means that all her past immigration ills are forgiven. Her spousal status will help her stay in the country, but she still needs to get some sort of status. To be able to work would, well, take a bit of work. Pick up the phone and get more details from him. Then talk to an immigration lawyer. People on here might be well informed, but unless they're an attorney who knows US immigration law then their opinion (and mine obviously) should be considered heresy. Talk to a lawyer, get real advice and get things sorted before you have to start sending forms back and forth to Iraq.

No, there are no checkpoints between states in the USA unless you are driving to Alaska.

Again for the third time, there are checkpoints away from the border. They are not for "between" states, as it were, but as I and others have noted IH-10 has one east of El Paso, and there are some on IH-35 north of Laredo before San Antonio, and so on. The status of those in the vehicles is checked at these points, even though they are not at the border.

I can, and have, not left the USA driving IH-35 from Laredo to San Antonio and been stoped at the checkpoint, with non-US citizens in the vehicle, who had documents checked. DEA checks at some as well.

And as a side note there are ag check stations (not related to the OP however) entering AZ and CA. TX checks some commercial vehicles even dealer plates, and the list goes on and on.

Ciao,
FH

There are a couple of checkpoints on I-10 near El Paso, but if she has her green card she has nothing to worry about

This is absolutely not true either--if she's here illegally she will have to petition to have her illegal presence forgiven. And a google search will find numerous examples of spouses of citizens being deported, usually because of felonies, but also sometimes for illegal presence/refusing deportation orders. As you say, without a green card, she should get a good lawyer and petition immediately.

There can be a reason why she is not allowed to leave Texas or the United States. If you are married to a US-citizen and apply for your greencard you are not allowed to leave the United States until the greencard application process is complete. There is only one exemption from this rule. In case of special circumstances you can file for an exemption of this rule. There was a story about a German woman who got married to a US-citizen. They got a baby and she was flying home with the new born to see her parents while she was waiting for her green card. She even got the exemption of not leaving the United States. She did everything by the book. Still when she tried to return to the USA she was denied at the border, detained for 24hours with the baby and finally after she agreed to immediately fly back to Germany she was released.

Amazing. So the American immigration officials forced her to abduct a child from the United States without the consent of the father?

HTB.

Correct, getting a lawyer is best.

I had a co-worker who married an illegal immigrant and they waited 6 years to come forward and they hired a lawyer. It took a while but once they came forward it would have prevented any sort of attempts to remove her at that point.

It's not really an "exemption" - it's called Advance Parole (AP) and is a legal "fiction" where you are physically admitted into the US but legally are considered to be outside of the US. But that's beside the point. It's actually very common for those waiting for AOS (adjustment of status) to apply for AP as it is the ONLY way to travel during that time. Having AP is still not guarantee that you will be admitted back into the US, and if you have any sort of illegal entry or other fraud you have committed with regards to immigration, you would be advised not to travel even with AP as USCIS is still well within its rights not to admit you back into the states (eg if you have overstayed a visa by a year or longer and are then liable to a 10 year ban). I suspect this woman had something of the sort in her record to have justified being denied re-entry into the US. She should have got legal advice before leaving the US.