8/24/2012
On August 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting requests for deferred action from certain young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. On August 14, USCIS posted the latest guidance and forms related to the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Included in the updated information was further refinement of the educational requirements.
All of the latest information is posted on the USCIS Web site: Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process.
Forms
The relevant forms, three in total, are also available on the USCIS Web site, and they are:
Form I-821D Instructions (pdf) which among other things describes the type of documentation needed to prove eligibility. The instruction form addresses the issue of confidentiality, stating that: information provided in this request is protected from disclosure to ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the purposes of immigration enforcement proceedings unless the requestor meets the criteria for issuance of a Notice to Appear or a referral to ICE under the criteria set forth in USCIS's Notice to Appear guidance. The information may be shared with national security and law enforcement agencies, including ICE and CBP, for purposes other than removal….
The confidentiality provision also covers family members and guardians.
Form I-765 and Form I-765 Worksheet for employment authorization must accompany Form I-821D, and the total fee is $465, including the cost of biometrics.
Information about the forms and links to the forms can be found on the USCIS web site I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
Once forms and fee are received by USCIS, the agency will send a receipt notice and will send notice for a biometrics appointment at a USCIS Application Support Center. Processing will take several months, depending on how many individuals request deferred action.
More Information
To learn more about the deferred action for childhood arrivals process, please visit www.uscis.gov/childhoodarrivals or call the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.
