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ȱ›’–Ž›ȱ
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™ŽŒ’Š•’œȱ’—ȱ ––’›Š’˜—ȱ˜•’Œ¢ȱ
Š—žŠ›¢ȱŘřǰȱŘŖŖŝȱ
˜—›Žœœ’˜—Š•ȱŽœŽŠ›Œ‘ȱŽ›Ÿ’ŒŽȱ
ŝȬśŝŖŖȱ
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Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress

•’Ž—ȱŽŠ•’£Š’˜—ȱŠ—ȱ“žœ–Ž—ȱ˜ȱŠžœDZȱȱ›’–Ž›ȱ
ȱ
ž––Š›¢ȱ
Immigration patterns have changed substantially since 1952, when policy makers codifying the
Immigration and Nationality Act assumed that most aliens becoming legal permanent residents
(LPRs) of the United States would be arriving from abroad. In 1975, more than 80% of all LPRs
arrived from abroad. By 2005, however, only 34% of all aliens who became LPRs had arrived
from abroad; most LPRs adjust status within the United States. This report summarizes the main
avenues for foreign nationals currently in the United States—legally or illegally—to become
LPRs. Alien legalization or “amnesty,” as well as adjustment of status and cancellation of
removal options, are briefly discussed. Designed as a primer on the issues, the report provides
references to other CRS products that track pertinent legislation and analyze these issues more
fully. This report will be updated as needed.


˜—›Žœœ’˜—Š•ȱŽœŽŠ›Œ‘ȱŽ›Ÿ’ŒŽȱ

•’Ž—ȱŽŠ•’£Š’˜—ȱŠ—ȱ“žœ–Ž—ȱ˜ȱŠžœDZȱȱ›’–Ž›ȱ
ȱ
˜—Ž—œȱ
Background ............................................................................................................................... 1
Overview of Avenues to LPR Status ......................................................................................... 2
Special Provisions for Adjustment of Status ............................................................................. 3
Legalization............................................................................................................................... 3
Cancellation of Removal........................................................................................................... 4

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Figure 1. Principal Avenues for Legal Permanent Residence.......................................................... 2

˜—ŠŒœȱ
Author Contact Information ............................................................................................................ 5

˜—›Žœœ’˜—Š•ȱŽœŽŠ›Œ‘ȱŽ›Ÿ’ŒŽȱ

•’Ž—ȱŽŠ•’£Š’˜—ȱŠ—ȱ“žœ–Ž—ȱ˜ȱŠžœDZȱȱ›’–Ž›ȱ
ȱ
ŠŒ”›˜ž—ȱ
Alien legalization or “amnesty,” as well as special provisions to allow certain aliens to adjust to
legal permanent resident (LPR) status, are among the most controversial issues of U.S.
immigration policy. President George W. Bush has proposed comprehensive immigration reform
that includes an expanded guest worker program and an increase in permanent legal immigration
as key components.1 Among the thorny questions raised by such proposals are: would
unauthorized aliens (i.e., illegal aliens) currently in the United States be eligible for the visa? and
would the proposal include a mechanism for guest workers to obtain LPR status?2
During the 109th Congress, the Senate passed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of
2006 (S. 2611), which would have enabled certain groups of unauthorized aliens in the United
States to obtain legal permanent residence and certain guest workers to adjust to LPR status.3 This
report summarizes the main options for foreign nationals currently in the United States—legally
or illegally—to become LPRs. As discussed more fully below, most of these options would hinge
on Congress enacting special legislation.
Immigrant admissions, as well as adjustments to LPR status, are subject to a complex set of
numerical limits and preference categories that give priority for admission on the basis of family
relationships, needed skills, humanitarian concerns, and geographic diversity.4 When Congress
first codified the assortment of immigration laws into the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
in 1952, the assumption was that most aliens who would receive LPR status would be coming to
the United States from abroad. Indeed, 30 years ago, more than 80% of the 386,194 aliens who
became LPRs of the United States had arrived from abroad. In FY2005, 65.8% of all LPRs were
adjusting status within the United States.5 That the number of LPRs arriving from abroad has
generally remained around 400,000 for the past 30 years while the total number of LPRs now
hovers around one million annually, highlights the contribution that aliens adjusting to LPR status
after being in the United States is making to the growth of permanent legal immigration.
In addition to LPRs, each year millions of foreign nationals come temporarily on nonimmigrant
visas (e.g., tourists, foreign students and intra-company business transfers). It is estimated that
annually hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals either overstay their nonimmigrant visas or
enter the country illegally and thus may become unauthorized aliens.6 Recent analyses estimate
the average growth in unauthorized alien residents at 700,000 to 800,000 annually. As of March

1 The White House, Fact Sheet: Fair and Secure Immigration Reform, Jan. 7, 2004.
2 For a full analysis of these issues, see CRS Report RL32044, Immigration: Policy Considerations Related to Guest
Worker Programs
, by Andorra Bruno, and CRS Report RL32235, U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions,
by Ruth Ellen Wasem.
3 CRS Report RL33125, Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 109th Congress, coordinated by Andorra Bruno.
4 For analysis of immigration admissions, numerical limits, and visa priority dates, see CRS Report RL32235, U.S.
Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions
, by Ruth Ellen Wasem.
5 CRS analysis of data published by the U.S. Department of Justice in the 1975 Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration
and Naturalization Service
(1977), and U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the 2005 Statistical Yearbook of
Immigration
(2006).
6 CRS Report RS22446, Nonimmigrant Overstays: Brief Synthesis of the Issue, by Ruth Ellen Wasem.
˜—›Žœœ’˜—Š•ȱŽœŽŠ›Œ‘ȱŽ›Ÿ’ŒŽȱ
ŗȱ


•’Ž—ȱŽŠ•’£Š’˜—ȱŠ—ȱ“žœ–Ž—ȱ˜ȱŠžœDZȱȱ›’–Ž›ȱ
ȱ
2005, there were an estimated 11.1 million aliens living here without legal authorization to do so.7
Almost 40%, an estimated 4.4 million, have arrived in the past five years.8
ŸŽ›Ÿ’Ž ȱ˜ȱŸŽ—žŽœȱ˜ȱȱŠžœȱ
There are several main options for aliens in the United States to become LPRs without leaving the
country, and as Figure 1 illustrates, most involving unauthorized aliens would require Congress
to enact a law. To adjust status under current law, aliens must be in the United States legally on a
temporary visa and eligible for a LPR visa;9 aliens fleeing persecution may be granted asylum;10
or—in very limited circumstances—unauthorized aliens may become LPRs through cancellation
of removal by an immigration judge. Even aliens in the United States legally on a temporary visa
can only adjust to LPR status if they qualify under the statutory set of numerical limits and
preference categories that give priority for admission on the basis of family relationships, needed
skills, and geographic diversity.
Figure 1. Principal Avenues for Legal Permanent Residence

Source: CRS synthesis of current legal options under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

7 CRS Report RS21938, Unauthorized Aliens in the United States: Estimates Since 1986, by Ruth Ellen Wasem.
8 “The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.: Estimates Based on the March
2005 Current Population Survey,” by Jeffrey S. Passel, Pew Hispanic Center.
9 Business travelers and tourists who come through the Visa Waiver Program are not eligible for adjustment of status.
CRS Report RL32221, Visa Waiver Program, by Alison Siskin.
10 CRS Report RL32621, U.S. Immigration Policy on Asylum Seekers, by Ruth Ellen Wasem.
˜—›Žœœ’˜—Š•ȱŽœŽŠ›Œ‘ȱŽ›Ÿ’ŒŽȱ
Řȱ

•’Ž—ȱŽŠ•’£Š’˜—ȱŠ—ȱ“žœ–Ž—ȱ˜ȱŠžœDZȱȱ›’–Ž›ȱ
ȱ
INA §245 permits an alien who is legally but temporarily in the United States to adjust to LPR
status if the alien becomes eligible on the basis of a family relationship or job skills, without
having to go abroad to obtain an immigrant visa. INA §245 was limited to aliens who were here
legally until 1994, when Congress enacted a three-year trial provision (commonly referred to as
§245(i)) that allowed aliens here illegally to adjust status once they became eligible for an LPR
visa, provided they paid a large penalty fee. In 2000, Congress temporarily reinstated §245(i)
through April 30, 2001 (P.L. 106-554).11
™ŽŒ’Š•ȱ›˜Ÿ’œ’˜—œȱ˜›ȱ“žœ–Ž—ȱ˜ȱŠžœȱ
Over the years, Congress has enacted statutes that enable certain aliens in the United States on a
recognized—but non-permanent—basis to adjust their status to legal permanent residence when
they are not otherwise eligible for an immigrant visa. Since the codification of the INA in 1952,
there have been at least 16 Acts of Congress that have enabled certain aliens in the United States
in some type of temporary legal status to adjust to LPR status. Most of these adjustment of status
laws focused on humanitarian cases, e.g., aliens paroled into the United States by the Attorney
General or aliens from specific countries who were given blanket relief from removal such as
temporary protected status (TPS), deferred enforced departure (DED), or extended voluntary
departure (EVD).12
The other major group of aliens adjusting status through special provisions involved
nonimmigrants and typically were employment-based.13 Beneficiaries of these special provisions
included nonimmigrant alien physicians who had graduated from a medical school or qualified to
practice medicine in a foreign state and were fully and permanently licensed and practicing
medicine in a U.S. state on January 9, 1978; nonimmigrant retired employees of international
organizations and/or their immediate families who have lived in the United States for specified
periods of time, totaling at least 15 years for eligible adults and 7 years for children; and
nonimmigrant nurses here as of September 1, 1989 who had been employed in the United States
as registered nurses for at least three years before application for adjustment and whose continued
employment met specified certification standards.
ŽŠ•’£Š’˜—ȱ
The issue of whether aliens residing in the United States without legal authorization may be
permitted to become LPRs has been debated periodically, and at various times Congress has
enacted legalization programs. In 1929, for example, Congress enacted a law that some consider a
precursor to legalization because it permitted certain aliens arriving prior to 1921 “in whose case
there is no record of admission for permanent residence” to register with INS’s predecessor
agency so that they could become LPRs. In 1952, Congress included a registry provision (aimed

11 For background and analysis, see CRS Report RL31373, Immigration: Adjustment to Permanent Resident Status
Under Section 245(i)
, by Andorra Bruno.
12 For background on blanket forms of relief and the nationals who have received them, see CRS Report RS20844,
Temporary Protected Status: Current Immigration Policy and Issues, by Ruth Ellen Wasem and Karma Ester.
13 CRS Congressional Distribution Memorandum, Special Adjustment of Status Legislation, 1957-1996, by Joyce
Vialet, Mar. 28, 1998. (Available from author of this report.)
˜—›Žœœ’˜—Š•ȱŽœŽŠ›Œ‘ȱŽ›Ÿ’ŒŽȱ
řȱ

•’Ž—ȱŽŠ•’£Š’˜—ȱŠ—ȱ“žœ–Ž—ȱ˜ȱŠžœDZȱȱ›’–Ž›ȱ
ȱ
at aliens who had been admitted but whose files were lost) when it codified the INA, and this
provision ultimately evolved into an avenue for unauthorized aliens to legalize their status.14
When Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, it included
provisions that enabled several million aliens illegally residing in the United States to become
LPRs. Generally, legislation such as IRCA is referred to as an “amnesty” or a legalization
program because it provides LPR status to aliens who are otherwise residing illegally in the
United States.15 Although legalization is considered distinct from adjustment of status, most
legalization provisions are codified under the adjustment or change of status chapter of INA.
There were two temporary legalization programs created by IRCA.16 The “pre-1982” program
provided legal status for otherwise eligible aliens who had resided continuously in the United
States in an unlawful status since before January 1, 1982. They were required to apply during a
12-month period beginning May 5, 1987. The “special agricultural worker” (SAW) program
provided legal status for otherwise eligible aliens who had worked at least 90 days in seasonal
agriculture in the United States during the year ending May 1, 1986. They were required to apply
during an 18-month period beginning June 1, 1987 and ending November 30, 1988.
Approximately 2.7 million aliens qualified for legal status under the pre-1982 and SAW
programs. Of this total, 1.6 million or 59% qualified under the pre-1982 program, and 1.1 million
or 41% qualified under the SAW program.17
Š—ŒŽ••Š’˜—ȱ˜ȱŽ–˜ŸŠ•ȱ
The Attorney General has the discretionary authority under the INA to grant relief from
deportation and adjustment of status to otherwise illegal aliens who meet certain criteria.
Generally, aliens seeking this type of relief are those who have established “deep roots” in the
United States and who can demonstrate good moral character as well as hardship to their family
here if they are returned to their native country. Decisions to grant relief are made on a case-by-
case basis. This avenue, formerly known as suspension of deportation, is now called cancellation
of removal as a result of the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
(IIRIRA) of 1996 (P.L. 104-208, Division C).
In addition to changing the terminology, IIRIRA established tighter standards for obtaining this
relief. The hardship threshold previously was “extreme” hardship to the alien, the alien’s citizen
or permanent resident alien spouse, children, or parent. Now the language states “exceptional and
extremely unusual hardship.” The length of time the alien had to be physically residing in the

14 For background and analysis, see CRS Report RL30578, Immigration: Registry as Means of Obtaining Lawful
Permanent Residence
, by Andorra Bruno.
15 Some consider the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) of 1997 a legalization
program because the primary beneficiaries were Nicaraguans and Cubans who had come to the United States by
December 1, 1995, but who had not been given any recognized legal status typically afforded to humanitarian migrants
such as Temporary Protected Status, or Deferred Enforced Departure. Others view the Nicaraguans as having a special
status because the Nicaraguan Review Program of then-Attorney General Edwin Meese gave special attention to the
Nicaraguans who had been denied asylum.
16 Act of Nov. 6, 1986, P.L. 99-603; 100 Stat. 3359. The legalization provisions under discussion here were
amendments to INA. The pre-1982 program was authorized by §245A of the INA and the special agricultural worker
(SAW) program by §210 of the INA.
17 CRS Congressional Distribution Memorandum, Alien Legalization Provisions of IRCA, by Joyce Vialet, Feb. 26,
1999. (Available from author of this report.)
˜—›Žœœ’˜—Š•ȱŽœŽŠ›Œ‘ȱŽ›Ÿ’ŒŽȱ
Śȱ

•’Ž—ȱŽŠ•’£Š’˜—ȱŠ—ȱ“žœ–Ž—ȱ˜ȱŠžœDZȱȱ›’–Ž›ȱ
ȱ
United States was increased from 7 to 10 years. Moreover, the time span used to calculate the 10-
year physical presence requirement now terminates when the alien receives a notice to appear (the
document that initiates removal proceedings) or when the alien commits a serious crime. IIRIRA
also established for the first-time limits on the number of people who could receive cancellation
of removal—4,000 each fiscal year.18

ž‘˜›ȱ˜—ŠŒȱ —˜›–Š’˜—ȱ

Ruth Ellen Wasem

Specialist in Immigration Policy
rwasem@crs.loc.gov, 7-7342





18 CRS Report 97-606, Suspension of Deportation: Tighter Standards for Canceling Removal, by Larry M. Eig; and
CRS Report 97-702, Suspension of Deportation: Effect of §309(c)(5) of IIRIRA on Pending Deportation Cases, by
Larry M. Eig and Andre O. Mander.
˜—›Žœœ’˜—Š•ȱŽœŽŠ›Œ‘ȱŽ›Ÿ’ŒŽȱ
śȱ