Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewals that once cleared in a fortnight now average four months after USCIS layered additional biometric, social-media and financial-network checks onto every case. An agency data snapshot released May 1 shows a median 122-day processing time, up from 15 days in fiscal 2025 and the longest since 2016. The lag stems from the same “Strengthened Screening & Vetting” architecture now affecting other benefit types. DACA files are routed through Operation PARRIS, fingerprints are rerun through the FBI’s NGI system and cases from 39 “high-risk” countries face automatic holds. USCIS officials defend the policy as essential to national security, but immigrant-rights groups say employment authorization gaps have already caused job losses, driver-license suspensions and exposure to deportation proceedings. Compounding the pain, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act raised DACA renewal fees to $555 online ($605 by mail) and eliminated several fee-waiver categories. For many so-called Dreamers—an estimated 80 % of whom are in the workforce—the combined financial and timing hit threatens livelihoods. Corporate mobility managers should check whether essential employees rely on DACA EADs and plan for at least six-month lead-times on renewals. Employers in states that require an unexpired work permit for professional licensing face an additional compliance puzzle if renewals linger. Advocacy groups are weighing litigation, but short-term relief is likely to come only from expedited-processing requests or targeted congressional inquiries. Until then, the 300,000 renewals queued up in 2026 remain stuck in what attorneys are calling “legal limbo.”
Source: VisaVerge
