Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
DACA defers removal for two years at a time and, with a separate application, gives work authorisation to people brought to the United States as children. It is not a status and it grants nothing permanent. Litigation has left it in a strange half-life: USCIS accepts initial requests but does not process them, and renewals continue.
Who it is for. People who came to the United States before turning 16, were under 31 on June 15, 2012, have lived here continuously since June 15, 2007, and meet the education and criminal history guidelines.
The forms, in order
- 1
Confirm you are renewing rather than requesting DACA for the first time
USCIS accepts but does not adjudicate initial requests under the current court orders.
- 2
File Form I-821D with Form I-765 and the worksheet
- 3
Attend biometrics if USCIS schedules them
- 4
Receive the two-year deferred action grant and EAD
The grant is discretionary and can be terminated.
- 5
Apply for advance parole if you need to travel for education, employment, or humanitarian reasons
Travel is riskier than it was; CBP can decline to parole a person back in.
Where it goes wrong
- Initial requests are accepted but not decided, so a first-time filer is paying for a queue that does not move.
- Renewal timing matters: file too early and USCIS may reject it, too late and work authorisation lapses, because automatic EAD extensions ended in 2025.
- DACA does not cure unlawful presence and does not lead to a green card by itself.
- The relief has been narrowed further in Texas by the Fifth Circuit litigation.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- Following Texas v. United States, USCIS accepts but does not process initial DACA requests, and the relief is further limited in Texas.
- Renewal processing slowed sharply in FY 2026, from a 0.5-month median to 3.3 months.
- The end of automatic EAD extensions makes late renewals costly.