In case you missed it, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, that people may now file Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal requests online.

What Does This Mean?

If you were previously granted DACA, you now have the option to file your renewal Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization online. You also must include the Form I-765 Worksheet.

To file online, you must first create a myUSCIS account. The account is free and allows you to track your case, respond to requests for evidence, and communicate with USCIS online. For these reasons, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) encourages you to file immigration benefit requests online.

If you are requesting DACA for the first time, you cannot file online at this time. While USCIS is accepting initial DACA requests, a July 16, 2021 court order prohibits USCIS from approving them at this time. Therefore, you may submit an initial request by mail, but all first-time DACA requests are on hold.

Why This Matters

The CIS Ombudsman applauds this expansion of online filing, which aligns with our 2021 Annual Report to Congressrecommendation to USCIS to prioritize high-volume forms for online filing and digital processing. In FY 2021, USCIS received 438,950 Form I-821D requests along with Form I-765 – a sizeable workload for the agency.

More Information

View USCIS’ news release for more information on online filing for DACA renewals. For more information on online accounts, please see USCIS’ Tips for Filing Forms Online page and the myUSCIS for Applicants webinar presentation from the CIS Ombudsman’s webinar series.

The CIS Ombudsman is committed to meeting with stakeholders and USCIS to continue to address concerns related to DACA. We will share additional updates on this topic when available. For more information on our office, please visit www.dhs.gov/cisombudsman or follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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