<P> The "registry" is a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act which allows a person who has previously entered the United States illegally to obtain legal permanent residence simply on the basis of having de facto resided in the country over a long time . To avail himself of the benefit of this provision, the immigrant has to prove that he has continuously resided since before the stipulated "registry date". </P> <P> The concept of "registry" was first added to the INA in 1929, with the registry date set to June 3, 1921 . Since then, the registry date has been adjusted several times, being set to July 1, 1924; June 28, 1940; and June 30, 1948 . The most recent adjustment to the registry date came with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, when it was set to January 1, 1972 . A number of bills have been introduced in Congress since then to further alter the registry date, but they have not been passed . </P> <P> As part of immigration reform under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), as well as further reform enacted in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA), persons who are eligible and properly apply for permanent residence based on either a recent marriage to a U.S. citizen or as an investor are granted permanent residence only on a conditional basis, for two years . An exception to this rule is the case of a U.S. citizen legally sponsoring a spouse in which the marriage at the time of the adjustment of status (I - 485) is more than two years old . In this case, the conditional status is waived and a 10 - year Permanent Resident Card is issued upon USCIS approval of the case . A permanent resident under the conditional clause may receive an I - 551 stamp as well as a Permanent Resident Card . The expiration date of the conditional period is two years from the approval date . The immigrant visa category is CR (conditional resident). </P> <P> When this two - year conditional period is over, the permanent residence automatically expires and the applicant is subject to deportation and removal unless, up to 90 days before the conditional residence expires, the applicant must file form I - 751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence (if conditional permanent residence was obtained through marriage) or form I - 829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions (if conditional permanent residence was obtained through investment) with USCIS to have the conditions removed . Once the application is received, permanent residence is extended in 1 - year intervals until the request to remove conditions is approved or denied . For conditional permanent residence obtained through marriage, both spouses must sign the form I - 751; if the spouses are divorced, it is possible to get a waiver of the other spouse's signing requirement, if it can be proved that the marriage was bona fide . </P>

Who issues the united states of america permanent resident card