What Is DACA Status? Benefits, Eligibility, and Renewal Timeline

DACA status is a two-year federal grant, formally called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, that temporarily shields certain people who came to the United States as children from deportation and lets them work legally. It is not a green card, not citizenship, and not a path to either.¹ One thing to know before anything else: federal court injunctions currently block the government from approving any first-time DACA request, so only people who already hold DACA or held it within the past year can renew.²

What DACA Gives You

An approved DACA grant does two things for two years. It defers action on your removal, meaning the government agrees not to deport you during that window. And it makes you eligible for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), the physical card that lets you work legally in the United States.³ With an EAD you can also apply for a Social Security number, which is what opens the door to filing taxes, building credit, and being paid on the books.

DACA holders are treated as “lawfully present” for some purposes, and every state currently issues driver’s licenses to DACA recipients. What DACA does not do is change your underlying immigration status. You are not a lawful permanent resident, and the government keeps the authority to place you in removal proceedings if circumstances change.¹

Who Qualifies

USCIS uses a fixed checklist, and every item has to be met. Meeting the checklist still isn’t the end of it: approval is discretionary, so USCIS can say no even to a qualifying applicant.³

You were born on or after June 16, 1981 (under 31 as of June 15, 2012).
You came to the United States before your sixteenth birthday.
You have lived here continuously since June 15, 2007.
You were physically in the United States on June 15, 2012, and are here now.
You had no lawful immigration status on June 15, 2012 — either you entered without authorization or your visa had expired by that date.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.⁵
You have no disqualifying criminal record and do not pose a threat to national security or public safety.

The Criminal Bars

The criminal rules disqualify more applicants than any other requirement. A felony conviction ends the analysis. So does a “significant misdemeanor,” which under the DACA rules includes domestic violence, sexual abuse, burglary, unlawful firearm possession, drug trafficking, and DUI — and it is significant regardless of the sentence actually imposed.⁵ For other misdemeanors, a single conviction disqualifies you only if the sentence included more than 90 days of actual jail time (a suspended sentence does not count). Three or more minor misdemeanors from separate incidents will also disqualify you. If you have any criminal history at all, talk to an immigration attorney before you file.

Why Only Renewals Are Being Approved Right Now

In September 2023, a federal district court in Texas ruled the DACA regulation unlawful and expanded an injunction that had been in place since July 2021. USCIS will accept a first-time DACA request, take the fee, and issue a receipt, but it cannot approve one while the injunction stands. In January 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the finding that the DACA regulation violated federal immigration law, though it narrowed the ruling’s scope.²

Renewals are unaffected. Existing DACA grants stay valid through their expiration date, and USCIS continues to process renewal applications normally.² A request counts as a renewal if you currently hold DACA or if your prior grant expired within the last year. Cross the one-year line and USCIS treats your case as a brand-new initial request, which cannot currently be approved.

The Renewal Timeline That Matters

DACA grants last two years. There is no automatic extension and no grace period. USCIS strongly encourages filing your renewal between 120 and 150 days — roughly four to five months — before your current grant expires.⁴ Filing earlier than 150 days out will not speed anything up. Filing later risks a coverage gap you cannot fix retroactively.

Renewal uses the same Form I-821D and Form I-765 as an initial request, plus the current filing fee. Fees are adjusted periodically; USCIS updated certain immigration fees for fiscal year 2026, so confirm the current amount on the USCIS site before you file.⁶ Download the latest form versions directly from USCIS — outdated versions are rejected automatically. Renewal applicants generally don’t have to resubmit evidence of entry or education unless USCIS asks for it.

If Your Grant Lapses

If DACA expires before your renewal is approved, both the work permit and the deportation protection stop on the expiration date. Your EAD becomes invalid, and any employer using E-Verify will see it. You cannot legally work again until a new EAD is issued.⁴

The bigger risk is immigration. If you are 18 or older when the grant lapses, you begin accruing “unlawful presence” each day until a new grant is approved. Hit 180 days of unlawful presence and you can trigger bars on reentering the country if you ever leave. Applicants under 18 at the time of filing do not accrue unlawful presence, but they still lose the work permit.⁴ That is why the 120-to-150-day window is the single most important deadline in the process.

And if your grant expired more than a year ago, you cannot renew at all. USCIS will treat the filing as a new initial request, which the current injunction blocks.² Missing the one-year window effectively means losing DACA for the foreseeable future.

Traveling Outside the United States

DACA recipients cannot leave the country and come back freely. Travel abroad without authorization is treated as abandoning your DACA grant. The only way to travel and preserve status is to apply for advance parole using Form I-131 before you go, and approval is limited to three purposes: educational (like a semester abroad or academic research), employment (an overseas assignment or client meeting), or humanitarian (a funeral or a seriously ill family member). Vacation does not qualify.⁷

Even with approved advance parole, reentry is not guaranteed. A Customs and Border Protection officer at the port of entry can still deny admission, and prior removal orders or certain criminal history raise the risk substantially. Get legal advice before booking anything.

What DACA Does Not Get You

DACA does not unlock most federal benefits. Federal student aid is not available — DACA recipients are classified as neither U.S. citizens nor eligible noncitizens for Title IV aid, so no Pell Grants and no federal student loans.⁸ Some states and individual colleges offer their own aid, so the school’s financial aid office is worth asking.

Health insurance through the federal Affordable Care Act Marketplace is also unavailable. A 2024 rule briefly opened Marketplace eligibility to DACA recipients, but a court reversed that, and as of 2025 DACA holders cannot enroll in Marketplace coverage.⁹ Some states run their own programs that may cover DACA recipients, and employer-sponsored coverage is available if your job offers it.

DACA has always existed as an exercise of executive discretion, not a law passed by Congress, and its legal foundation has been challenged repeatedly since 2017. Current recipients can track the status through the USCIS DACA litigation page and should consider talking to an immigration attorney about whether any other form of relief might apply to their situation.²

1
eCFR. 8 CFR 236.21 – Applicability
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. DACA Litigation Information and Frequently Asked Questions
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Frequently Asked Questions
5
eCFR. 8 CFR 236.22 – Discretionary Determination
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records
8
Federal Student Aid Knowledge Center. U.S. Citizenship and Eligible Noncitizens
9
HealthCare.gov. Immigration Status to Qualify for the Marketplace