What Is DACA? Eligibility, Benefits, and Renewals

DACA, short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a federal immigration program that temporarily shields certain people who were brought to the United States as children from deportation and lets them work legally in renewable two-year periods. It was created by the Department of Homeland Security in 2012 and currently covers roughly 500,000 people. It is not a law passed by Congress, it does not grant lawful immigration status, and it does not lead to a green card or citizenship on its own.¹

What Deferred Action Actually Means

Deferred action is a form of prosecutorial discretion. The government decides, case by case, not to pursue deportation against someone for a defined period. The 2012 memorandum that created DACA framed it as a way to focus enforcement resources on people who pose real security or safety threats, rather than on people who grew up in the country. In its own words, “additional measures are necessary to ensure that our enforcement resources are not expended on these low priority cases but are instead appropriately focused on people who meet our enforcement priorities.”²

The distinction between deferred action and legal immigration status matters. The memorandum was explicit: “This memorandum confers no substantive right, immigration status or pathway to citizenship. Only the Congress, acting through its legislative authority, can confer these rights.”² Recipients are treated as lawfully present for certain limited purposes, including some Social Security benefits, but their underlying immigration status remains unchanged.³ The government can also terminate any individual’s deferred action at any time.

Who Qualifies for DACA

Because the program was designed for people who essentially grew up in the United States, every requirement is tied to age, time in the country, or ties to American schools or the military. To qualify, you must meet all of the following:

You were under 31 on June 15, 2012, meaning you were born on or after June 16, 1981.¹
You came to the United States before your 16th birthday.²
You have lived in the United States continuously since June 15, 2007. Short, innocent trips abroad before August 15, 2012 will not break residency; unauthorized travel after that date will.⁴
You were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and are present when you file.⁴
You are in school, have a high school diploma or GED, or were honorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces or Coast Guard.²
You have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors, and you do not pose a threat to national security or public safety.²

Meeting every criterion still does not guarantee approval. USCIS makes each decision individually and can deny a request as a matter of discretion.

The Criminal Bars

The criminal requirements trip people up more than anything else. A felony conviction of any kind is automatic disqualification. So is a single significant misdemeanor, which covers offenses punishable by more than five days but no more than a year that involve domestic violence, sexual abuse, firearms possession, drug distribution, burglary, or driving under the influence. Any other misdemeanor where a judge ordered more than 90 days of jail time also counts as significant, even if the full sentence wasn’t served. Below that threshold, three or more minor misdemeanors will also disqualify you. Traffic infractions that never became criminal charges generally don’t count.

What DACA Gives You

Approval grants a two-year period of deferred action, renewable for additional two-year terms.³ During that window, the government will not initiate deportation proceedings against you.

Recipients who can show an economic need for employment receive an Employment Authorization Document that allows them to work legally in the United States.³ With that work permit comes a Social Security number, which allows you to report income, build a credit history, and in some cases eventually qualify for disability benefits. A Congressional Research Service report notes that DACA recipients can count all their work credits, including those earned before authorization, toward Social Security benefits.⁵ A valid work permit also makes it easier to obtain a state driver’s license or identification card, though the rules for that vary by state.

Earning income and having a Social Security number means you file federal income taxes like any other worker. If you used an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number before receiving your Social Security number, you should stop using the ITIN for tax filings and notify the IRS of the change. DACA recipients may also be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit for prior years in which they qualified.

What DACA Does Not Give You

DACA does not provide federal financial aid for college, most federal public benefits, or any path to permanent residency. As of September 2025, DACA recipients also lost eligibility to purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. You are authorized to be present and to work, but you do not hold an immigration status that leads anywhere on its own.

Where DACA Stands Right Now

This is the piece anyone researching DACA needs to understand before anything else: new first-time applications are frozen. USCIS accepts initial requests, but a federal court order prohibits the agency from processing them.¹ If you have never had DACA before, you can submit the paperwork, but it will sit in a queue with no decision until courts allow processing to resume.

Renewals are different. People who already have or previously had DACA can still file renewal applications, and USCIS is processing them normally.⁶ Current grants of deferred action and their related work permits remain valid until their expiration dates unless individually terminated.

The legal fight centers on a challenge brought by the state of Texas arguing that DACA violates federal immigration law. In January 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit largely agreed with the trial court that parts of DACA are inconsistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act. The appeals court narrowed the remedy in two ways: it limited the injunction’s geographic scope to Texas, and it upheld DACA’s core policy of holding off on deportation as a lawful exercise of discretion while striking down the work authorization component.⁷ The case was sent back to the trial court for further proceedings, and the stay on the ruling remains in effect while appeals continue. For now, renewals still work in all 50 states, but the program’s long-term future depends on the courts or on Congress.

How Renewals Work

Because the program is essentially closed to newcomers, the practical DACA process today is the renewal process. The application package is three forms filed together: Form I-821D (the request for deferred action), Form I-765 (the application for employment authorization), and Form I-765WS (a worksheet showing economic need).⁸ Supporting documents typically include a birth certificate or passport, school or medical records showing continuous residence, and proof of education or military service.

USCIS reports that it adjudicates most DACA renewals within 120 days and recommends filing 120 to 150 days before your current DACA and work permit expire.⁶ Filing in that window is the simplest way to avoid a gap between grants, and it is the step people most often put off until too late. There is a filing fee, listed on the USCIS fee schedule, and a narrow set of fee exemptions is available for people with serious chronic disabilities, major medical debt, or unsupported minors, all subject to income limits.⁹

Traveling Abroad and Letting DACA Lapse

DACA recipients cannot simply leave and reenter the country. Traveling abroad without prior authorization breaks continuous residence and can result in being denied reentry. To travel internationally, you must first apply for advance parole by filing Form I-131 after your DACA is approved.¹ Advance parole is only granted for specific reasons: educational purposes such as studying abroad, employment-related travel like training or business meetings, and humanitarian circumstances such as visiting a seriously ill family member or attending a funeral. Even with approved advance parole, a Customs and Border Protection officer at the port of entry retains discretion to deny admission.

Letting DACA lapse also carries consequences beyond the loss of a work permit. Once the deferred action period ends without a renewal in place, you begin accumulating unlawful presence unless you were under 18 when the renewal was filed. More than 180 days of unlawful presence followed by a departure can trigger a three-year bar from reentering; more than a year triggers a ten-year bar. Employment authorization also disappears immediately when the DACA period ends, regardless of age, and legal work cannot resume until a renewal is approved.³

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
2
Department of Homeland Security. Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Frequently Asked Questions
4
eCFR. 8 CFR 236.22 – Discretionary Determination
5
Congressional Research Service. Social Security Benefits for Noncitizens
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
7
Justia Law. Texas v. United States, No. 23-40653 (5th Cir. 2025)
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Form I-821D)
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Guidance for an Exemption from the Fees for a Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Related Form I-765