August 07, 2012

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas and other senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials held a stakeholder conference call on August 3, 2012 to discuss Secretary Janet Napolitano's June 15^th Deferred Action policy memorandum.

Even with ongoing debate over this new policy, in accordance with the Secretary's memorandum, USCIS will begin accepting requests for consideration of deferred action on August 15, 2012. The request for consideration of deferred action will be made through filing a new form, along with a form requesting the employment authorization document with filing fees of $465. Interestingly, there will not be any fee waivers available for these filings. The new form is not available at this time, USCIS is still developing the forms and will be submitting them to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The forms and instructions will be available on the USCIS website on August 15, 2012. Any requests submitted before August 15, 2012 will be rejected.

Information provided on the form will be kept confidential, including information relating to applicants' family members or legal guardians, meaning it will not be used for immigration enforcement proceedings, unless the applicant meets current USCIS criteria for referral to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or issuance of a Notice to Appear (NTA) in immigration court. The Service made it clear that deferred action does not confer any additional immigration benefits and the policy is subject to change.

DHS will deem "significant" any misdemeanor, regardless of the sentence imposed, involving domestic violence, sexual abuse or exploitation, burglary, unlawful possession or use of a firearm, drug distribution or trafficking, or driving under the influence. Additionally, DHS will deem significant any other misdemeanor for which an applicant was sentenced to more than 90 days in jail, not including suspended sentences and time held pursuant to immigration detention. A minor traffic offense will not be considered a misdemeanor for purposes of this process.

Please refer to the attached memorandum for details on the guidelines and filing procedures. Given the precarious nature of the policy itself along with potential issues relating to each individual's history, careful consideration should be given prior to submission of any requests to USCIS.