Following the July 28, 2020 memorandum by Acting Secretary of Home land Security Chad Wolf regarding reconsideration of DACA policy (known as the “Wolf Memorandum”), USCIS has implemented new guidance “to facilitate implementation of the specific changes to the DACA policy that are within the purview of USCIS”. Below are the highlights:
All initial DACA requests (from those who have never before received a grant of DACA) will be rejected and fees will be returned
If USCIS begins accepting new requests in the future, initial DACA requests rejected during this time will be able to apply in the future
Individuals who have been granted DACA in the past will still be able to submit applications
For approvable DACA requests, deferred action and employment authorization will be limited to no more than 1 year
Reject all pending and future Form I-131 applications for advance parole, with limited exceptions
Advance parole for travel outside the U.S. is entirely within the discretion of USCIS and will only be granted for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, 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, well-being or care of an immediate relative, particularly minor children of the alien.
USCIS suggests that DACA recipients file their renewal request between 120-150 days before their current DACA expires.
To read USCIS’s new guidance, please click here.
