The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced they will once again be accepting renewal applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
DACA was started by former President Barack Obama in 2012 and allowed young undocumented immigrants a chance to legally work in the United States and avoid deportation.
The Trump administration ended the program in September 2017, citing an overreach by the Obama administration. Several DACA recipients filed suit against the feds shortly after the announcement of DACA’s cancellation.
On January 9, 2018, a district judge in California ruled the federal government had to keep the DACA program in place until the end of the legal battle.
Four days later on January 13th, the USCIS announced they would once again begin accepting applications for DACA renewals.
“Until further notice, and unless otherwise provided in this guidance, the DACA policy will be operated on the terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017,” the USCIS wrote in a statement.
USCIS is only accepting applications from those immigrants who at one point were accepted into the DACA program. They will not accept requests from anyone who has not been a part of the program and will not approve or accept applications for advanced parole.
Immigrants whose DACA benefits expired after September 5, 2016, may file a DACA request as a renewal, according to the USCIS.
If your DACA benefits expired before September 5, 2016, or your DACA was previously terminated at any time you cannot file a request as a renewal but may file a new initial DACA request.
Immigrants in both categories must complete Form I-821D and Form I-765. The current cost for a DACA renewal is $495.
This order remains will remain in place temporarily as the legal fight continues.
Congressional leaders continue to negotiate to find a permanent solution to DACA.