# § 1259. Record of admission for permanent residence in the case of certain aliens who entered the United States prior to 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 1182(a)(3)(E) of this title or under section 1182(a) of this title 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 citizenship and is not deportable under section 1227(a)(4)(B) of this title.
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**Source Credit**: (June 27, 1952, ch. 477, title II, ch. 5, § 249, 66 Stat. 219; Pub. L. 85–616, Aug. 8, 1958, 72 Stat. 546; Pub. L. 89–236, § 19, Oct. 3, 1965, 79 Stat. 920; Pub. L. 99–603, title II, § 203(a), Nov. 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 3405; Pub. L. 100–525, § 2(j), Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2612; Pub. L. 101–649, title VI, § 603(a)(14), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 5083; Pub. L. 104–132, title IV, § 413(e), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1269; Pub. L. 104–208, div. C, title III, § 308(g)(10)(C), Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–625.)
## Editorial Notes
### Amendments
1996—Par. (d). substituted “section 1227(a)(4)(B)” for “section 1251(a)(4)(B)”.
inserted “and is not deportable under ” after “ineligible to citizenship”.
1990— substituted “1182(a)(3)(E)” for “1182(a)(33)”.
1988— amended . See 1986 Amendment note below.
1986—, as amended by , inserted “under or” in introductory provisions and substituted “” for “” in section heading and in par. (a).
1965— substituted “” for “”.
1958— permitted record of lawful admission to be made in the case of aliens who entered the United States prior to , authorized the record to be made as of the date of the approval of the application for those who entered subsequent to , and prior to , and substituted provisions requiring the alien to satisfy the Attorney General that he is not inadmissible under insofar as it relates to criminals, procurers and other immoral persons, subversives, violators of the narcotic laws or smugglers of aliens for provisions which required the alien to satisfy the Attorney General that he was not subject to deportation.
## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
### Effective Date of 1996 Amendments
Amendment by effective, with certain transitional provisions, on the first day of the first month beginning more than 180 days after , see , set out as a note under .
Amendment by effective , and applicable to applications filed before, on, or after such date if final action not yet taken on them before such date, see , set out as a note under .
### Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Amendment by applicable to individuals entering United States on or after , see , set out as a note under .
### Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by effective as if included in enactment of Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, , see , set out as a note under .
### Effective Date of 1965 Amendment
For effective date of amendment by , see , set out as a note under .
### Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and Transfer of Functions
For abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service, transfer of functions, and treatment of related references, see note set out under .
### Applicability of Numerical Limitations
> “The numerical limitations of sections 201 and 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act [
>
> , 1152] shall not apply to aliens provided lawful permanent resident status under section 249 of that Act [
>
> ].”
, , , provided that: