Undocumented aliens who entered the before 1972, and have resided here continuously since then, may be eligible for lawful status under the little-known Registry legalization program. By Nolan Rappaport

The Registry legalization program was established in 1929 by section 249 of the and Nationality Act. It has been amended a number of times since then. The last amendment was in 1986. It currently reads as follows:

INA: Act 249 - Record of Admission for Permanent Residence in the Case of Certain Aliens Who Entered the United States Prior to July 1, 1924 or January 1, 1972

A record of lawful admission for permanent residence may, in the discretion of the Attorney General and under such regulations as he may prescribe, be made in the case of any alien, as of the date of the approval of his application or, if entry occurred prior to July 1, 1924, as of the date of such entry, if no such record is otherwise available and such alien shall satisfy the Attorney General that he is not inadmissible under section 212(a)(3)(E) or under section 212(a) insofar as it relates to criminals, procurers and other immoral persons, subversives, violators of the narcotic laws or smugglers of aliens, and he establishes that he-

(a) entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972;

(b) has had his residence in the United States continuously since such entry;

(c) is a person of good moral character; and

(d) is not ineligible to and is not deportable under section 237(a)(4)(B).1

Recent Statistical Yearbooks do not provide statistics on registry adjustments.

History of the Registry Provision

The United States enacted its first comprehensive immigration legislation in response to the large-scale migration that began in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The objective of the legislation was to control the flow of immigrants coming to the United States. This was accomplished with restrictions such as the racial barriers to the admission of Chinese immigrants and in 1882, Congress established "qualitative" restrictions which categorized more immigrants as "undesirable." This included immigrants who were poor, had health problems, were uneducated, or had criminal records. Congress also established a committee comprised of House and Senate members, known as the “Dillingham Commission,” to study immigration to the United States. The Dillingham Commission began its work in 1907, and concluded in 1911, that immigration from southern and eastern Europe posed a serious threat to American society and culture and should therefore be greatly reduced.2 Opposition to immigration became particularly strong during , culminating in the passage of the of 1917. Numerous new limitations were put into place, which led to the establishment of the first quota restrictions in 1921. The objective of the quota restrictions was to change the racial composition of the United States.

Those restrictive measures had unintended consequences. For instance, they created problems for undocumented immigrants who had established strong ties to the United States, many of whom had American families. The Registry Act of March 2, 1929, was enacted to help them to become lawful permanent residents.3 The restrictive measures also had created a problem for aliens who wanted to apply for naturalization. The Basic Naturalization Act of 1906 required a record of lawful admission to the United States as a prerequisite to naturalization. Many otherwise eligible immigrants were unable to naturalize because there was no record of their admission, or such a record existed but could not be found. The Registry Act made it possible for them to establish the required record of lawful admission to the United States.4

Subsequent legislation has changed the registry cutoff date since 1929, but it did not make substantial changes to the other eligibility requirements until 1958. The Act of August 21, 1958, eliminated the bar to registry eligibility of being subject to deportation. In its place, it required the applicant to not be inadmissible under section 212(a) of the Act “insofar as it relates to criminals, procurers and other immoral persons, subversives, violators of the narcotics laws or smugglers of aliens.” This made it possible for aliens to establish registry eligibility who had entered the United States illegally, had overstayed admission on a nonimmigrant visitor’s visa, or who had violated the terms of a temporary period of entry.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) advanced the cutoff date to January 1, 1972. The Immigration Technical Corrections Act of 1988 added the requirement that applicants for registry not be inadmissible as participants in Nazi persecution or genocide. The made registry and other specified forms of relief unavailable for five years to aliens who, despite proper notice, have failed to appear for deportation, for asylum hearings, or for certain other immigration proceedings. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) extended the five year bar to ten years and precluded applicants who are deportable under section 237(a)(4)(B) of the Act (engagement in terrorist activities).5

USCIS Registry Application Instructions

Eligibility Criteria: An applicant for lawful permanent resident status under the registry provisions has to establish that he --

• Entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972; • Has resided in the United States continuously since January 1, 1972; • Is a person of good moral character; • Is not ineligible for naturalization (citizenship); and • Is not removable (deportable) under Section 237(a)(4)(B) the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (terrorist activities). You are not inadmissible under Section 212(a)(3)(E) of the INA or as a criminal, procurer, other immoral person, subversive, violator of the narcotics laws or alien smuggler.

Application Process: To apply for permanent resident status under the registry provisions, you need to file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.

Supporting Evidence for Form I-485: You should submit the following evidence with your Form I-485:

• Two passport-style photos; • Form G-325A, Biographic Information, if you are between 14 and 79 years of age; • Copy of government issued photo identification; • Copy of birth certificate; • Copy of passport page with nonimmigrant visa (if applicable); • Copy of passport page with admission (entry) stamp (if applicable); • Form I-94, Arrival/ Departure Record (if applicable); • Evidence that you entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972; and • Evidence to establish continuous residence since entry.6

An applicant should submit his application to a district director if the applicant is not in removal proceedings. If the applicant is in removal proceedings, he should submit his application to the immigration judge who is presiding over the proceedings.7

1 INA: Act 249 - Record of Admission for Permanent Residence in the Case of Certain Aliens Who Entered the United States Prior To July 1, 1924 or January 1, 1972, https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0- 0-1/0-0-0-29/0-0-0-8031.html#0-0-0-6257 2 Harvard University Library open collections program, “Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930, “Dillingham Commission (1907–1910),” http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/dillingham.html 3 Richard A. Boswell, “Crafting an Amnesty with Traditional Tools Registration and Cancellation” (2010), pp. 180- 189, University of California, Hastings College of the Law, http://repository.uchastings.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2008&context=faculty_scholarship 4 USCIS, “Registry Files, March 2, 1929 - March 31, 1944, https://www.uscis.gov/history-and- genealogy/genealogy/registry-files-march-2-1929-march-31-1944 5 USCIS, Adjudicator's Field Manual, Redacted Public Version, Chapter 23.7 Registration of Lawful Permanent Residence under Section 249 of the Act, “Registration of Lawful Permanent Residence under Section 249 of the Act,” https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-8624/0-0-0-9882.html#0-0-0-437 6 USCIS, “ Through Registry” (March 23, 2011), https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/other-ways-get- green-card/green-card-through-registry 7 USCIS, OI 249 Creation of records of lawful admission for permanent residence, OI249.1 Application, https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-53690/0-0-0-60625.html

About the Author Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years; he subsequently served as the immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for twenty years. He also has been a policy advisor for the DHS Office of Information Sharing and Collaboration under a contract with TKC Communications, and he has been in private practice as an immigration lawyer at Steptoe & Johnson.