How will marriage affect my application?

[pcheng]

I am a green card holder who will be eligible for naturalization this July. I currently have a foreign girlfriend, and we are getting married soon. I plan to file her green card application as soon as I became a citizen.

I know that spouse of a citizen gets their green card much faster, and they can enter the US while the application is pending, so my first question is: when applying for greencard by virtue of being married to a citizen, does the USCIS look at the immigration status of the spouse at the time of marriage, or only at the time of application? If I get married now (still green card), but submit her application only after becoming citizen, will my wife have to wait abroad for years (as other green card spouses do) because our marriage was consummated while I am still a Green Card holder?

Thank you to anyone who can help clarify this situation.