DACA or should i wait....

HELP! DACA or WAIT FOR RESIDENCY

i am 17 years old, junior in high school. it'll be one year soon since my parents got their green cards(became permanent residents) however, from what i hear they first need to become citizens to apply for me, which will be in another 2 years time! should i apply for daca, or wait for my parents to be able to apply for me for residency!

What's your current status ?

overstayed visa aka illegal alien

Apply for DACA so you can be protected from deportation for 2 years and also so you can work while waiting for your parents to become US Citizens.

Dude....Duuuuuude, DUDE! This is a no-brainer. Get DACA today. Don't even think about it or wait a day longer. It could take 2 or 3 years for your parents thing to work out for you- IF EVER, and meanwhile what are you going to do for the next 2-3 years after you finish school and are out of the High School bubble? You think you can just go apply for a job at the burger king? You think you can just go get a driver's license or renew it if you got lucky and got one while you still had a visa?

C'mon....chop chop.

text text text

Yes. Please apply for DACA

You're underage. You're technically still not accrued any unlawful presence. Apply for DACA now so you don't officially fall out of status when you turn 18.

Everyone here doesn't see the bigger picture - that you may be eligible for permanent residency under your parents (spouses and unmarried children under 21* are eligible to be covered as derivatives). Also, they fail to ask if you meet all the requirements for DACA (ie. were you out of status on June 15th 2012, and have you entered on or before June 15th 2007).
* - exceptions apply under CSPA

Your typical dreamer, as well as most undocumented immigrants have little knowledge of immigration law, every so often you see a yeti who wakes from hibernation after 15+ years and realizes that he/she could use a green card, goes to see a lawyer and turns out they can fix their status if they do something (generally old 245(i) grandfathering due to a petition that never got anywhere). I think the only other person here who would catch onto the fact you're most likely eligible to become a permanent resident would be TxGirl, everyone else just says "get DACA and wait for hell to freeze over".


There's several questions I need to ask you, answer them all to the best of your knowledge. PM me if you don't feel comfortable sharing details out in the open.

1) How did your parents become permanent residents? Via work? Via other relative (your aunt/grandparent)? DV lottery? Asylum/refugee status? Other?
2) What status were they in when they filed for adjustment?
3) Why didn't you adjust with them?
3a) How did you fall out of status?
4) Did you or a parent have a green card petition or labor certification filed on their behalf before April 30th 2001?
5) Do you think you're inadmissible to US for any other reason other than overstaying your visa (ex. deportation order, criminal reasons, fraud, etc).

What I can tell you now is that you are most likely eligible to follow to join your parents. Since you're under 18 you're able to leave US to undergo consular processing abroad. The following needs to be done:

1) You need to leave before turning 18 and 180 days old.

2) Your parent (the principal of the application which resulted in their green cards) needs to file the following:
a) Form I-824 (in part 2 mark option c and have them fill in your information under dependents later on).
b) Copy of the approval notice for the original application which resulted in their green cards (this being an approval form I-797 for either an I-130, I-140, I-526, or I-360, or a latter stating they won the green card lottery, or documents granting asylum/refugee status).
c) Copy of their green card
d) Proofs that you are eligible for following to join:
i) Are under 21 years old (birth certificate or passport work here).
ii) Are unmarried (no evidence as you don't prove negatives).
iii) They are your biological/step/adoptive parent (in this case: your birth certificate, birth certificate + marriage license of parents (if step parent), or adoption documents (if adoptive)).

3) Once the I-824 is approved the consulate in your country of origin will schedule an interview which you need to attend. You will need to file DS-260 for the immigrant visa, the fee is 230 dollars (might be more, sources online claim 230) payable before you get access to thhe form. You will be issued an immigrant visa and can board the first flight back to US. Once processed to immigration you become a permanent resident and your green card will be send to you within a few weeks.

Step 2 and can be done before 1. However you MUST leave US before you turn 18 and 180 days old. If it all plays out nicely you can just leave only to attend the interview and be back the next day.


If you had a lawyer once you're done get a malpractice lawsuit ready because you got screwed.

The above answer may change depending on the answers I'll get from you (if any). For example being covered under 245(i) (question 4) will make you eligible to still adjust status in US after paying a 1000 dollar fine.

Apply for daca. Then adjust with 485/130.