The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued guidelines about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal process. Renewal instructions provided by the agency apply only to those individuals who were granted DACA by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) between June 15, 2012 and August 15, 2012.
These instructions do not apply to the individuals who were granted DACA by the USCIS on or after August 15, 2012. It was also announced that renewal guidance for immigrants who were granted deferred action status by the USCIS will be issued soon.
Immigrants who were granted DACA by the ICE, may renew their deferred action status for another two years by filing the USCIS Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA). Two other forms, Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization and Form I-765WS must be filled out and filed along with Form I-821D. The application package that contains these forms must be filed with the filing fee of $465. Applications for deferred action cannot be e-filed.
According to the USCIS, DACA recipients need to file their applications for renewal at least four months before their current period expires. Otherwise, they will accrue unlawful presence if their current period of deferred action expires before they file their applications for renewal.
To apply for renewal, they must meet certain deferred action eligibility requirements. They need to show that they were below age 31 as of June 15, 2012. They must have got into the U.S. before they turned 16 and must be high school graduates or honourably discharged members of the U.S. Armed Forces or of the U.S. Coast Guard.
They must have lived in the U.S. continuously since 15th June, 2007, till date. They must not have departed the U.S. after August 15, 2012 without advance parole documents and must have been present in the country on June 15, 2012. They must either have entered into the U.S. without inspection or their non-immigrant status must have expired as of June 15, 2012. Most of all, they must have maintained clean criminal records and must not have been convicted of felonies.