I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

Update on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

Pursuant to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf’s July 28, 2020, memorandum (PDF) on DACA, today USCIS issued implementing guidance (PDF, 1.7 MB). We will reject all initial DACA requests from aliens who have never previously been granted DACA. The rejections will be without prejudice, meaning that if we reject your request, we will return all fees and you will be able to resubmit your request should USCIS begin accepting new requests. USCIS will continue to accept requests from aliens who had been granted DACA at any time in the past. 

USCIS will limit renewal grants of deferred action and employment authorization under DACA to 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 and associated employment authorization for failure to continue to meet the DACA criteria (see 2012 Memorandum), including 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.

USCIS will generally reject requests received more than 150 days before the current grant of DACA expires. You should file your request between 150 and 120 days before your current grant of DACA expires.

USCIS will only grant advance parole for travel outside the United States to DACA recipients in rare instances encompassed by the statutory standard for parole found in INA Section 212(d)(5).We will reject and return fees for all pending Form I-131 applications from DACA recipients filed pursuant to the prior DACA standards. The agency will not rescind any previously granted advance parole documents unless there is another legal reason to do so.  However, as has always been the case, parole into the United States is not guaranteed. In all cases, you are still subject to immigration inspection at a port-of-entry to determine whether you are eligible to come into the United States.

We will issue additional instructions on how you can apply for advance parole based upon the new guidance for DACA recipients. The determination whether to grant advance parole to an alien is entirely within the discretion of USCIS and must be made on a case-by-case basis. USCIS will review all the factors presented in individual cases before determining whether to approve advance parole for a DACA recipient based on the new guidance. Some examples of circumstances that may warrant approval include, but are not limited to, situations such as:

• 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 if a requestor establishes that their situation meets one of the examples above, USCIS may still deny the request for advance parole in discretion under the totality of the circumstances.    

CAUTION: If you travel outside the United States on or after Aug. 15, 2012, without advance parole, your departure automatically terminates your deferred action under DACA.