DACA Renewals Impacted by USPS Delays and Mail Service Errors

In ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program earlier this year, the Trump administration offered a final deadline of October 5, 2017 for those individuals eligible for renewal. However, reports detailed a widespread problem with delayed delivery on the part of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that lead to a rejection of a large number of DACA renewal applications. Furthermore, there were reports of applications that were received at the designated filing location by the deadline, but were still rejected by USCIS.

USCIS has since issued guidance regarding the renewal applications affected by these issues. USCIS is working with USPS to identify DACA renewal applications that were delivered late due to USPS service delays. Once this assessment is completed, USCIS will review and send affected DACA applicants a letter inviting them to resubmit the application.  USCIS is also reviewing all improperly rejected applications due to USCIS mail service error and will similarly invite applicants to resubmit their DACA requests. In both cases, applicants will have 33 days from the date of the letter to resubmit the application.

If a DACA requestor believes that their DACA renewal application was delivered by the filing deadline but have not been contacted by USCIS to resubmit their application, USCIS recommends contacting Lockbox Support at lockboxsupport@uscis.dhs.gov with an explanation of the situation prior to resubmitting a package for reconsideration.

The government issued a fairly short window for DACA renewal applicants to submit their applications, leaving many young people scrambling to get their applications in on time. This tight timeline, in conjunction with clerical errors on the part of USPS and USCIS has left many applicants hoping for an extension in limbo. Thus, it is critical that those improperly rejected applicants take advantage of the rare opportunity to resubmit their applications beyond the established deadline. For more information regarding this process, applicants should review the FAQ document provided by USCIS.