About Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

DACA is an abbreviation for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals”. This is a policy that protects around 800,000 young individuals— AKA “DREAMers” — who entered the U.S unlawfully as children. The program does not permit them official legal status or a path to citizenship, but it does permit them to apply for a driver’s license, social security number (SSN), and work permit.

In July 2021, a federal justice ruled that 1st-time DACA applicants were barred from applying to the program. USCIS has affirmed that all individuals whose DACA submissions were endorsed prior to July 16, 2021, will resume having DACA status and all DACA requests that were authorized before July 16 will continue to be qualified to renew DACA and DACA work permits. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will also continue to allow the filing of initial DACA and employment permission requests, but they cannot endorse initial DACA and EAD requests on account of the judge’s ruling.

Required Documents to Apply for DACA

1. Proof of identity: your passport, birth certificate, state-issued photo ID, military ID, or school ID.
2. Proof you came to the U.S before age 16: It includes a copy of your passport with a stamp, your Form I-94, any INS papers with the date of entry, travel records, school documents, hospital or medical papers, and official religious ceremony documents
3. Proof of specified residence prior to age 16, if you left the U.S. and returned later: Proper documents incorporate school records, employment documents, tax returns, bank letters, or proof of employment
4. Proof of living since June 2007: Includes payment receipts, utility invoices, employment papers, tax returns, school documents, medical diaries, money orders for money sent in and out, birth certificates of children born in the United States, dated bank transactions, car receipts, title, registration, and/or insurance documents
5. Papers to verify any absences from the U.S. since 2007 were brief/casual, and innocent: proper documents comprise a plane ticket, passport entries, hotel receipts, or proof of travel intent
6. Proof of presence in the U.S. on June 15, 2012.
7. Proof of no legal status on June 15, 2012: form I-94 with an expiration date, the final order of removal or deportation as of June 15, 2012/ DHS document about removal proceedings
8. Proof of current education/graduation/G.E.D/military service
9. Proof of honorably discharged veteran status: Form DD-214, NGB Form 22, military personnel documents/health records
10. Proof of removal proceedings: Copy of the removal order, any document published by the immigration judge, or the final decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
11. Proof of Criminal history: Official report from arresting agency that no charges were filed.