** LEGAL UPDATE **
Although the Biden Administration has issued a much-publicized new set of regulations concerning Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), very little has actually changed. Partly because of ongoing litigation, only renewal applications for DACA are being accepted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The door has still not been opened for would-be applicants hoping to apply for DACA for the first time and to receive the protection from deportation and work permit that DACA offers. And let's not forget that DACA is still not a permanent part of U.S. law.
The most important takeaway from this bit of news is that if you hope to apply for DACA some day, don't be fooled by scammers (fake lawyers, so-called 'notarios,' and so on) who claim that these latest regulations offer some new opportunity to do so now. They do not.
And if you already hold DACA, don't worry that you need to do anything new or different at this time. You can sit tight until it's time to think about renewing; though in light of the uncertainty created by the ongoing lawsuits, renewing your DACA as soon as you can do so makes sense, in case the program ends abruptly. Experts recommend submitting a renewal application within the six months before your DACA runs out, or even earlier.
Effective Date: October 31, 2022