US Citizen Married to UK citizen questions

[Loki]

My wife and I have been "together" nearly 5 years, but only married for two. I am a US citizen and she is a UK citizen on a visa to work in the States. She became pregnant over the Summer and we are trying to get back to the UK before the baby is born.

I have a few questions, first, although we have only been married for for years, we've been together, living together for 5 years. Will we qualify for a marriage visa?

Also, I have a criminal record, a non-violent lower grade felony conviction from 8 years ago (i lied about paying some parking tickets to get my car out of the tow-pound and they nailed me for "submission of a forged document" an E class felony, the lowest felony). Will this affect my ability to get a visa?

Any help is appreciated.

[Joppa]

You can apply for a marriage (spouse) visa as soon as you are married. If you are married for less than 4 years, your marriage visa is only valid for 2 years (probationary period) and you have to apply in UK for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) a month before expiry, provided your marriage is still subsisting. If you can prove through documentary evidence you have been living in a relationship akin to marriage for 5 years (2 years in marriage and 3 years in unmarried partnership), then your visa will be for settlement (indefinite leave to enter). There are several threads here about other people's experience of applying for and getting a marriage visa, which has very detailed requirements and a long list of required documentary evidence.
As for your criminal conviction, you will have to declare it on your visa application, and it's up to the embassy to decide whether your record precludes you from obtaining a visa. I wouldn't have thought so from the details you've given, but they use their own discretion. All you can do is to apply and see what happens. The average wait time for settlement visa application is 50 business days or 10 weeks, and the fee is $995.