While a noncitizen must be a lawful permanent resident to obtain a waiver under INA 212(c), and LPR status obtained through fraud is insufficient, it is possible to argue that a noncitizen who obtained LPR status though amnesty legalization, even though s/he was not technically qualified because of a criminal offense committed while s/he was a temporary resident, should still be considered an LPR for 212(c) purposes, since the adjustment was automatic (and therefore no fraud could have occurred), and the failure of the INS to rescind the temporary status prior to adjustment bars the INS from denying that they are lawful permanent residents now. But see Arellano-Garcia v. Gonzales, 429 F.3d 1183 (8th Cir. 2005). If the government mistakenly granted lawful temporary residence to your client, the government's remedy was to terminate the LTR status. See INA sec. 245A(b)(2)(A); Matter of Medrano, 20 I. & N. Dec. 216(BIA 1990). Having failed to terminate, your client is a resident. See INA sec. 246; Matter of Belenzo, 17 I. & N. Dec. 374 (BIA 1981) (creating parallel structure for rescinding LPR status granted under sec.245 or 249). Under the rescission cases and statute, the U.S. can rescind at any time if a noncitizen received LPR status by fraud. After having LPR status for five years the government can't rescind in the absence of fraud. Even if a noncitizen gets LPR status by fraud, she or he can still apply for 212(c) if she or he gets a 237(a)(1)(H) waiver to forgive the fraud. Matter of Sosa-Hernandez, 20 I. & N. Dec. 758 (1993). See also Perez-Enriquez v. Gonzales, 411 F3rd 1079 (9th Cir 2005). Thanks to Dan Kesselbrenner