Brittany Murphy was married in a hush-hush ceremony to British producer Simon Monjack, with the news coming out at the beginning of the month that they had wed weeks ago. Star speculates that she’s pregnant, and that explains the quick wedding just six months after her split with fiance Joe Macaluso.

There may be another reason why Brittany got married so quickly, though – her man needed a green card. New husband Monjack faces deportation and has a court hearing scheduled for his case in July.

He was arrested March 27th on charges that he overstayed his visa, and Murphy married him about a month later. The guy is also said to be deep in debt and to have bad business practices:

DID Brittany Murphy marry Simon Monjack to keep him from being deported? The National Enquirer reports Monjack was arrested on expired visa charges in the middle of the night on March 27 – just over a month before the couple’s rushed marriage. The tabloid also hits the actress’ tubby hubby with allegations of bad debts and sleazy business schemes, which sources told Page Six the “Clueless” cutie knew nothing about. Monjack’s lawyer told us the charges are being made by “disgruntled ex-girlfriends” and that immigration lawyers concluded the marriage had no bearing on his visa status. Murphy’s rep had no comment.

My husband is German, and when we got married in the states it had no bearing on his green card status, as he had already applied for one under his profession. It took more than two and a half years, and he wasn’t about to mess up the process as he would have had to reapply to get a green card for marrying me.

If this guy is a producer he should have a work permit and a green card application in progress. Maybe he was just lazy about it, though, and thought he was rich or well known enough that he didn’t have to bother with legalities.

Header picture is of Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party this year.

Photo Credit: Dimitri Halkidis / WENN