U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the renewal process for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Deferred action is nothing but a discretionary determination to postpone the removal action of an immigrant as an act of prosecutorial discretion. Undocumented youth who receive this temporary status will be allowed to remain legally in the U.S. for a two year period.
Now the DACA recipients can file applications to renew their status. They will be able to remain here for two more years, if their renewal requests are approved.
Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), is the form that must be filed to renew DACA. Applications for renewal must not be submitted too early in advance. Applicants must note the date on which their status will expire and start preparing for renewal around four or five months prior to the date of expiration of their status. They will need to remember that renewal requests filed 150 days prior to the expiration date will not be considered by USCIS. USCIS will return such applications to the applicants with instructions to resubmit their requests at the right time. The right time to apply for DACA renewal is 120 days or 4 months before the expiration date of the current period of deferred action.
DACA recipients applying for renewal can also get their employment authorization documents renewed. This would enable them to legally work in the U.S. for two more years. So they will need to file the I-821D application along with Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization and Form I-765WS, Form I-765 Worksheet. All the applicants must file these three forms together. This also applies to those who do not wish to work in the U.S. while in the country on deferred action status.
Once the deferred action recipients file their renewal requests, USCIS may consider them for renewal of DACA if they still meet the requirements for this status. For USCIS to consider their requests, they must show that they have not traveled abroad on or after August 15, 2012, without advance parole documents. Likewise, their presence in the country must not threaten national security and they must not have participated in criminal activities.