USCIS announced on August 24, 2020 how it will implement Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf’s July 28 memorandum regarding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Under USCIS’s guidance, it will reject all initial DACA requests from aliens who have never previously received DACA and will return all fees. The rejections will be without prejudice which means that the aliens will be able to reapply when USCIS begins accepting new requests in the future from aliens who have never received DACA. USCIS however will continue to accept requests from aliens who have been previously granted DACA and will accept requests for advance parole that are properly submitted to the address specified on the Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-131 webpage.

DACA renewal requests which have been approved will have grants of deferred action and employment authorization be limited to no more than one year, but will not rescind any currently valid two-year grants of DACA or associated employment authorization documents (EADs) unless USCIS terminates an alien’s DACA for failure to continue to meet the required DACA criteria including failure to warrant a favorable exercise of prosecutorial discretion. USCIS will replace two-year EADs that are lost, stolen, or damaged with the same facial two-year validity period assuming the EAD replacement application is otherwise approvable.

DACA recipients should file their renewal request between 150 and 120 days before their current grant of DACA expires. USCIS announced it will generally reject requests received more than 150 days before the current grant of DACA expires.

USCIS also provided exceptions in granting advance parole for travel outside the United States to DACA recipients pursuant to the new guidance. The exceptions urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit in keeping with the governing statute and it will not rescind any previously granted advance parole documents unless there is a legal reason to do so. Aliens will still be subject to immigration inspection at a port-of-entry to determine eligibility to enter the United States as always.

USCIS will determine on a case by case basis whether to approve advance parole for DACA recipients based on new guidance which includes, but is not limited to, the following situations:

  • Travel to support the national security interests of the United States;
  • Travel to support U.S. federal law enforcement interests;
  • Travel to obtain life-sustaining medical treatment that is not otherwise available to the alien in the United States; or
  • Travel needed to support the immediate safety, wellbeing, or care of an immediate relative, particularly minor children of the alien.

Even under these situations, USCIS announced it may still deny the request for advance parole under a totality of the circumstances. It is important to receive advance parole as a DACA recipient as travel outside without one automatically terminates your deferred action under DACA. If you need legal assistance, please contact our knowledgeable staff at International Legal and Business Services Group, LLP.

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