Can you marry a US citizen while you are in the country with an I-94 form?

My purpose in entering the US in May/2004 was to spend time with an American gentleman(US citizen)as we had become romantically involved. I entered the US in May 2004 as a Canadian landed Immigrant and at the border crossing was issued an I-94 Visa Waiver with a 90 day expiry. I returned to Canada when my visa expired and returned to the US 6 weeks later on another 90 day I-94 Visa Waiver. Just prior to this second visa expiry date we were legally married in the US and submitted all of the required Immigration forms to the local immigration office the same day of the marriage. I was advised by the immigration officer that day that I would not be required to leave the US during the processing period and so I remained in the US with my husband. Within 5 business days of submitting the forms I received my US work authorization document and several weeks later received my Social Security number. Within 4 months after the marriage, we had our spousal interview with immigration and within 6 months after the marriage I received my green card with conditional permanent residence (condition is removed after 2 years).

I hope this information is useful, helpful and inspiring. I too had heard it was difficult, lengthy and with many hurdles, but our process was trouble free and relatively quick although fees to file the required immigration forms are costly (total appx $1500.00 US.

Good Luck!