A determination of how Nai Yin Xue will be removed from the U.S. was expected to be made later Friday by the Justice Department, said Pat Reilly, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

If he is placed in ICE custody, Xue could be on a plane back to New Zealand within two weeks provided all the paperwork is in order, Reilly said.

"He doesn't have status here is my understanding," Reilly said.

An interpreter and a federal public defender were brought in to U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Walker's courtroom Friday afternoon in anticipation of an initial court appearance for Xue. However, just before the allotted time for the hearing, a court official said there would be no hearing and suggested Xue would be deported instead.

A person without legal ties to the U.S. who is arrested in the country for a crime in another country can be deported under certain circumstances without the same due process given to U.S. citizens, Reilly said.

Xue, who had been sought in the September slaying of his wife, Anan Liu, was captured Thursday after residents of an apartment complex in Chamblee, recognized him from pictures that had been published in the media and called police, U.S. Marshals Service Chief Inspector Thomas Hession said at a news conference in Los Angeles.

Hession said when the residents, who were of Chinese descent, confronted Xue about his identity, he attempted to leave the building but they detained him before police arrived. Hession did not elaborate.

It was not clear why Xue came to Georgia, though Chamblee has a large Asian community. Reilly said it is not unusual for fugitives from other countries to try to blend in to avoid capture.

Authorities say Xue killed his wife in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, then flew to Australia and abandoned his daughter at a train station in Melbourne. A security camera recorded the scene as Xue left her alone at the station. He then flew to Los Angeles and went into hiding.

There was a delay between the alleged murder and a warrant being issued for Xue's arrest, as several days passed before Liu's body was found in the trunk of a car, by which time Xue had flown to the U.S.

It was not known Friday if Xue has been given access to an attorney. Colin Garrett, a federal public defender, was in court Friday in anticipation of representing Xue provided he qualified, but did not meet with him.

During the five-month investigation, Xue was tracked across the country, Hession said. His picture was posted on billboards in several Southern states and he was featured on television's "America's Most Wanted."

Hession said Xue, a martial arts expert, initially told police he was someone else, but he was carrying a New Zealand driver's license. When confronted with this he admitted his identity.

Xue is the publisher of a Chinese-language magazine in New Zealand and a well-known figure in the ethnic Chinese community in Auckland.

His daughter, Qian Xun Xue, is now living in China with her close family. She had been nicknamed "Pumpkin" after the make of clothing she was wearing when found abandoned and crying for her mother at the train station.