As explained
last month in this space by Kim Tremblay, United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued guidance for those
initially granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) between June 15 and August 15 of
2012. This guidance does not apply to
most people with DACA. The vast majority
of those with DACA filed their applications with USCIS after August 15, 2012
and has not yet received any guidance.
Those
granted DACA after August 15, 2012, have no guidance on how to renew the
application. USCIS may only accept DACA
renewal applications within 120 days of the expiration date. This will put a tight timeline on applicants
to make sure that they apply at the beginning of this window to give themselves
the best chance to not have a gap (or to minimize the gap) between the
expiration of their current grant of DACA and the approval of the renewal.
USCIS
has been encouraged to accept a receipt notice from the DACA renewal form as
proof of the continuing grant of DACA pending a decision on the renewal
application. It is not yet clear whether
they will implement this. If not, many
applicants applying for renewal may experience a gap in time between the
expiration of their current grant of DACA and the approval of their renewal
where they have no documentation. For
many, this will jeopardize school enrollment, employment, and the validity of
driver’s licenses amongst other issues.
As
of February 20, 2014, USCIS indicated that guidance
would be issued regarding renewals for those granted DACA in “coming
months.” We hope that guidance will be
coming shortly. In the meantime, we continue
to encourage those who anticipate having to renew DACA to put aside $465 for
filling fees and to gather documents regarding their physical presence in the
U.S. over the past two years. They
should also document their attendance in or graduation from any schools over
the past two years. In addition, DACA renewal
applicants should contact their attorneys about six months before their status
is set to expire. Being prepared with
the information and documentation likely to be required should make it easier
to quickly apply for renewal when guidance is released.
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