Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Renewals (DACA) Information

August 3rd, 2018

Clarification: New DACA Applications

(Last updated November 6, 2018)

Questions? Need a lawyer? Call the New Americans Hotline at 1-800-566-7636

On November 5th the federal government asked the Supreme Court to overrule three federal courts and end the DACA protection that has allowed renewals to continue for the last year. While we fight against this latest attack on DACA, remember that your best protection is to renew if you are eligible! REMEMBER: right now, only DACA renewals are being accepted by the government; do not submit a new application if you have never had DACA before. If and when there are changes to this guidance, this page will be updated. Call the number above in New York for help finding a lawyer.

Please see below for details on who can apply to renew their DACA today.

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USCIS Currently Accepting DACA Renewal Applications

On January 13, 2018, in response to an order from a federal court, USCIS re-opened the application window for DACA renewals. Instructions for potential applicants can be found here. It is important to note that only individuals who have or have had DACA in the past are eligible to apply at this moment: no initial applications will be accepted. In addition, the rules for how to submit applications are different depending on when a person’s DACA status has expired or will expire in the future.

For more information, applicants are encouraged to review the instructions published by USCIS and detailed guidance provided by the National Immigration Law Center and United We Dream, and to consult with an attorney if possible.

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Información Acerca De Acción Diferida Para Llegados En La Infancia (DACA)

Clarificación: Aplicaciones por primera vez de DACA

(Actualizado noviembre 5, 2018)

Preguntas? Necesita un abogado? Llame a la Oficina de Nuevos Americanos al 1-800-566-7636

El 5 de noviembre, el gobierno federal solicitó a la Corte Suprema que anule los tres tribunales federales y que ponga fin a la protección de DACA que ha permitido que continúen las renovaciones durante el último año. Mientras que seguimos luchamos contra este último ataque a DACA, recuerde que ¡Su mejor protección es renovar si es elegible! RECUERDE: por ahora, el gobierno solo acepta las renovaciones de DACA; no envíe una nueva solicitud si nunca ha tenido DACA anteriormente. Si hay cambios en este anuncio, esta página se actualizará. Llame al número de arriba en Nueva York para obtener ayuda para encontrar un abogado.

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USCIS actualmente recibe aplicaciones de renovación de DACA

El 13 de Enero del 2018, en respuesta de una orden de la corte federal, USCIS reabrió la ventana para aplicaciones de renovación de DACA. Instrucciones para aplicantes se puede encontrar aquí. Es importante tomar en cuenta que solo personas que tienen o han tenido DACA en el pasado son elegibles para aplicar en este momento: no se aceptarán aplicaciones por primera vez. Adicionalmente, las reglas de como enviar las aplicaciones son diferentes dependiendo de cuando el estado de DACA de una persona ha expirado o está por expirar en el futuro.

Para más información, se anima a los solicitantes a que revisen las instrucciones publicadas por USCIS y la guía detallada proporcionada por National Immigration Law Center and United We Dream, y se recomienda consultar con un abogada si es posible.

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NYIC Clarifies USCIS Guidance on Resubmitting Rejected DACA Renewals

(Last Updated December 7, 2017)

On November 10th, the New York Times published a story revealing that at least hundreds of DACA applications that had been timely mailed to meet the sudden October 5th deadline for last-chance renewals had been rejected due to mail errors. In a deposition, USCIS officials admitted that up to 4,000 applications had been rejected. The New York Immigration Coalition, through its legal service provider collaborative Immigrant ARC, had been tracking these rejections for at least a week prior to the story being published and noticed that rejections fell into three main categories:

  • Renewal applications that arrived at the post offices by October 5th but were not accepted by USCIS until October 6th. This issue seemingly affected all three USCIS lockboxes that handle applications being submitted from all over the country;
  • Renewal applications that were mailed with sufficient time to be delivered to the Chicago Lockbox but were delayed for days or weeks because of a mail delivery system error later admitted to by the US Postal Service;
  • Renewal applications that contained actual or alleged clerical issues such as blank fields, erroneous boxes being checked, or the wrong amount written on checks and were rejected for those reasons, contrary to past standard practices by USCIS. Some of these applicants were invited to re-submit corrected applications that were ultimately rejected.

The FAQs published by USCIS on November 30th pertain only to groups 1 and 2 above - applications who’s tracking information shows they were received at the post office by the October 5th deadline but were not accepted by USCIS until the following day, and applications that were delayed because of mail service issues at the Chicago Lockbox.

The FAQs do not apply to the last group: applications rejected because of clerical errors, even if they were invited to re-submit correction applications.

Individuals whose applications were delivered by the October 5th deadline but for some reason were not accepted by USCIS until October 6th will be mailed a letter from USCIS. They must re-submit the application within 33 calendar days of receiving the letter. Individuals who do not receive a letter from USCIS but believe their application was delivered on time can email the lockbox support at lockboxsupport@uscis.dhs.gov. However, providers so far are reporting delays of over two weeks in response time from this email.

USCIS is working with the US Postal Service to identify the applications affected by the mail delivery delay. USPS expects to complete their review by mid-December, 2017, and USCIS expects that they will be able to notify affected applicants by letter a week after the USPS review is concluded. Those individuals will also have 33 calendar days to re-submit their applications.

The NYIC will continue to work with our members and partners, including Immigrant ARC, to urge USCIS to accept all rejected applications that were filed in a good faith effort to comply with the arbitrary and rushed deadline imposed upon them. We also urge the administration and Congress to come to a quick understanding to find a long-term solution for DACA recipients, whose lives have been upended by the Administration’s rash decision to end DACA and its subsequent refusal to minimize the damages caused by government agency errors and malfunctions.

USCIS is indicating that they will not grant DACA renewals retroactively, even for individuals who's DACA applications should have been renewed before the expiration of their current grant but for the mail delivery errors.

The NYIC will continue to update our members and partners with information on this issue as it becomes available, please check this page for updated information.

LAST UPDATED: January 25th, 2018