THE USCIS has announced that it will begin accepting applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) under the expanded guidelines the President announced last November, on February 18, 2015. Under “DACA II,” a person who arrived in the US while under the age of 16 on or before January 1, 2010 may apply for deferred action and a work permit, as long as otherwise qualified.
The first of the new executive actions to go into effect this year, the DACA II program expands the population of eligible applicants for deferred action and work authorization to include young people who came to this country before turning 16 years old who have been present in the US since January 1, 2010, and extends the period of DACA validity and work authorization from two years to three years.
DACA II eliminates the age “ceiling” restriction of the first DACA, which made ineligible any person who had already reached the age of 31 as of the program’s effective date. Under DACA II, the age of the applicant at the time of filing is not relevant, only the age at which the person first arrived in the US is important. USCIS anticipates that it will receive thousands of applications as soon as the filing period commences on February 18, 2015.
In addition to expanding the DACA program, the Executive Actions will allow also allow parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents born on or before November 20, 2014, who have been in the country since January 1, 2010, to request deferred action and employment authorization for three years in a new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program, provided they pass required background checks. This “DAPA” program is scheduled to become effective in May 2015.
Under the 2014 Executive Action initiatives, eligibility for “provisional waivers” of “unlawful presence” for green card applicants has also been expanded to include the spouses and sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents and the sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. The provisional waiver allows an applicant for a green card who is subject to the “3 and 10 year bar” to obtain a waiver while still in the US prior to departing for an immigrant visa interview abroad. In many cases, individuals who are not eligible to adjust status in the US because of overstay and other violations must appear for an immigrant visa interview to obtain a green card. The Provisional Waiver was originally only available to “immediate relative” spouse and parents of US citizens. The expanded provisional waiver will be available when the USCIS implements its new guidelines this year.
Immigrants who believe they may be affected or could benefit from DACA II or the other new executive action programs should consult with a competent immigration attorney for a correct understanding of the rules and avoid “notaries” and “consultants” in seeking their new status.
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Daniel P. Hanlon is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law and a principal of Hanlon Law Group, PC, located at 225 S. Lake Ave., 11th Floor in Pasadena, California; Tel. No. (626) 585-8005. Hanlon Law Group, PC is a “full-service Immigration Law firm.” E-mail: [email protected] and www.hanlonlawgroup.com.
