Hi! Apparently I registered to this forum a long time ago and only recently rediscovered it.
Initial Application (without a lawyer)
Anyway, I did an initial application for DACA in mid September 2014 meeting all the qualifications (been living here continuously in limbo since I was 16 months, came in with my mom on my own passport with a B something visitor's visa stamp but no I-94 card, went through all 12+ years of education here).
Bio-metrics & Request for additional evidence
I did my bio-metrics in mid October 2014 (which was a pleasant event) and then late January 2015 I was hit with a request for more evidence. It seems I did not submit any/enough evidence for continued residency for 3 different years AND they wanted a record of my being in removal proceedings, which I had no clue what they were talking about.
Getting the missed evidence for continued residency was easy enough, though having to beg my cable company for old bills from the year prior was a bit of a challenge. For a month I rattled my brains as to how I could be in removal proceedings. I had checked "no" on my application because I honestly had never known to have been issued one or called before a judge regarding such a matter. But, alas, such is the life of a childhood arrival. So, my younger sister (born citizen) and I started to hunt for some of our mom's old paperwork. We found ONE paper with removal language and on that paper my little name was handwritten in with my mom's. Even our mother didn't recall this as all that paperwork was re-sent to her recently when my sister tried filing for her with a lawyer and they got all (hopefully) her files. Long story short on my mom's case, the lawyer told her not to go to the interview because they suddenly found out that she had the deportation against her. /le sigh
Approval & EAD card
Anyway, I sent in the missing evidence and a copy of that old-ass paper mid March 2015. It's like they were waiting for me. One week later and my letter of approval was delivered. According to the online status check, it states that they had approved me from January. The same online status check told me they were making my EAD and this weekend I got it in the mail.
Life after DACA
Now I'm geared up to go to the social security office tomorrow as soon as it opens, thanks to the great "After Daca" thread here on this forum. From there I'll get my state ID (NY), rescind my ITIN, update my record at the bank and get my taxes done before the deadline. Whew!
As for a job, I currently work freelance as an artist, which I thank God daily for. Paypal has been a God-send and the prayers and encouragement of my family and handful of friends that know what I've had to live with have been what has kept me all these years.
I want to also thank the members here on this forum that have been so helpful; getting informed, walking the path and sharing their experiences and insights with everyone else. You are truly blessed and I pray continued blessing on you. I hope that I'll be able to be of help, too.
I did have a question that I couldn't seem to find addressed here on the site. Assuming I was/am still in removal proceedings, how do I get out of it? What is the benefit and risks of getting something like that terminated?