First thing that the undocumented immigrants who are eligible and who are applying for DACA must understand is that deferred action is not the DREAM Act that would confer lawful status upon the people who apply for it. People who receive deferred action status will only be permitted to live and work in America of a certain period of time. However, even if the DACA applications filed by the undocumented immigrants are not approved, the details that they have provided may not be used to deport them from America.
Deferred action will only allow the undocumented youth who got into the country when they were minors, to stay temporarily in the country and will not grant them lawful status. They can obtain employment authorization documents and work in America but only for a three year period. At the end of the three year period they must renew deferred action and their work permits to stay in the United States. Undocumented immigrants who are eligible for deferred action status will have to provide detailed information about their immigration status, while applying for deferred action status.
Note: Deferred action period has been extended from two to three years. Check out the deferred action eligibility checklist.
Family members and the eligible dependents of the DACA recipients may not receive deferred action benefits and only the person who has been granted deferred action status can remain in America and work there. Moreover, deferred action recipients cannot apply for Green Cards or for US citizenship as DACA only allows the recipients to remain in America lawfully without granting them lawful status. Moreover, undocumented youth who apply for deferred action status will have to demonstrate that they are students, graduates or honorably discharged veterans and must submit the relevant documents. Similarly, people who crossed the borders illegally and people who got into the country on valid visas and who overstayed their visas alone can apply for deferred action status. People who hold valid visas are not undocumented immigrants and they cannot apply for DACA.
Undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes and who are affiliated to criminal organizations may not be granted deferred action status and such undocumented immigrants will be deported from the country. Still many believe that deferred action and the DREAM Act are both the same, but it is mandatory to understand that deferred action is different from the DREAM Act that would legalize the undocumented immigrants and that deferred action is only a temporary relief.
