J-1 Student Visa + Marriage to U.S. Citizen -Green Card=?

[LukeSnow]

Hello generous readers who may reply,
My girlfriend, whom I plan to marry, is 21 and a Chinese citizen.
She has a J1 Student Visa and the 2 year rule does not apply to her. She is required to return to China during the summer of 2009.
I am 24 and a U.S. citizen. We are planning on being legally married before she must return to China.
Then, both of us will travel to China, and plan to stay there for 1 to 2 years. Then, we plan to return to the U.S.

Is it possible for us to be legally married in the U.S., then travel to China, but wait until we return to the U.S. to apply for a Green Card for her?

I am in the exact same situation, and it is a long, beurocratic, and expensive process. It's not an instant thing. My husband is Russian, was also on a student visa, and after we got married he had to pay over $1,000 dollars in processing fees to USCIS, in addition to all of the paperwork we had to fill out (it's a lot). You also will have to sponsor her and prove to USCIS that you are 125% over the poverty line. If you're not, you'll need to find someone you know (not necessarily a relative) who is to be a joint sponsor. Then you have to wait for a reply, which can take up to 3 months. She will be given her temporary work permit while they continue to review your case--I believe that her greencard can take up to a year to get to her, although I'm not entirely certain (I know more about the process of getting a work permit, since that has been my husband's main concern). I think you can get permission to travel while you are waiting for your paperwork to be processed, but again, I'm not completely sure. Go to, or call, USCIS--I actually reccomend calling, because one of the options in their phone menu is hearing about the permanent residence process, including travel restrictions.