USCIS has received more than 70,000 deferred action requests from eligible applicants and has already approved some of those applications. USCIS started to receive applications, to grant work permits and deferred action, to eligible undocumented immigrants from 15th August, 2012. Most of the eligible undocumented immigrants around the country filed applications for deferred action and many attended workshops to understand well about the process and to prepare the paperwork. Undocumented immigrants who had already filed their applications are looking forward to receive positive decisions from the USCIS.
As the USCIS has adjudicated few applications, it is in the process of mailing the first work permits and deferred action, to the undocumented immigrants who had applied for deferred action. Applications filed by eligible applicants, are being adjudicated by the USCIS. A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security, Peter Boogaard, said that USCIS is now mailing its decision to the eligible applicants who had filed Form I-821D. Such undocumented immigrants, whose requests are approved, will be able to remain in the United States for two years and they can work lawfully.
People who meet all the eligibility requirements related to age, education and military requirements, may file requests for deferred action. Migration Policy Institute has already estimated that, there are around 1.2 million undocumented immigrants in the country, who are capable of receiving deferred action. This process, however, will not provide a path to legalization. But for DREAMers, it is a milestone as they can work, study and live in America for the period for which they are granted deferred action. Moreover, deferred action and the work permits are renewable.
Undocumented immigrants who receive positive decisions from the USCIS may remain in the country lawfully without any fear, though it is not a permanent relief. USCIS has reviewed a small number of applications and is mailing notifications to those applicants. USCIS will soon notify the other eligible applicants, once it decides on their cases. Though USCIS has adjudicated the first group of applications in a month, based on the number of applications, USCIS may take around six months to decide on a case, as it was announced earlier.