After speaking with two attorneys, my confidence in DACA is wavering.

I think i'ts beneficial for us to band together in the hopes that we can make a little noise if we are denied/deported - despite being qualified. I'm wondering just how many people who seem qualified will be denied for reasons only USCIS will ever know. By relaying my experience with two attorneys with differing views on DACA I'm hoping to connect with others in a similar situation as mine.

The first attorney made applying for DACA seem like a no brainer, and something that should be done immediately, since I'm fully qualified. She seemed to brush aside the question of evidence of continual presence as if USCIS would cut you some slack. She almost had me when she assured me I had nothing to fear - even though I'm subject to a removal order - because I wouldn't be referred to ICE without a criminal record. I've been dealing with immigration since I was 13 years old (27 now) and I've learned to always expect the worst when dealing with immigration.

Attorney number two told me what I was afraid of. First, he told me financial records would not be sufficient to prove continual presence because transactions can be initiated from anywhere. Also, affidavits by anyone close to you would be, practically, disregarded because USCIS assumes they'd say anything to keep you in the country. The most sobering thing about our conversation was being told that, given my immigration history, i was leaving myself completely vulnerable to deportation if USCIS denied my application; as we know, it is in their discretion whether to refer you to ICE or not and they're not necessarily bound by any laws with this process.

One attorney told me what I want to hear, the other told me what I expected to hear. I'm hoping that there's someone out there, with a prior immigration record, who's planning to, or has already filed for DACA. Also, if you're relying on bank statements, ebay/paypal transactions, being claimed as a dependent on parent's tax returns, and affidavits from family as your primary evidence for continual presence, I'd be really interested in seeing how things went.

I understand the frustration of and being nervous about having your near future life on the hands of a complete stranger, but it's still more than we've had before.

I keep people don't know or keep forgetting that it will not be 100% up to one officer to deny an application. It has been mentioned before that they also have to follow protocol, so if they feel an application is borderline being denied, they will request more proof before they send it off to their supervisor for denying purposes.

As long as you have proof, have not attempted fraud, and you know for a fact your record is clean from any wrong doing, you should be just fine.

Your lawyers are generalizing too much. Here's what I would do if I were you.

Fill up the application, see where the holes of your application is, go from there.

The instructions has a checklist of things to do for a reason, it's to guide you through what is required not what is projected to be required.

You say bank transactions can't be relied on? No way in hell can that be true, or you just shot down a huge number of qualified people with all the requirements because they played it safe and used a financial institution for their spending.

If -possibly- it wasn't enough evidence, USCIS will send you a referral for evidence and not a denial.

I would consult another lawyer, that's in the middle ground. Or a workshop near you for DACA.

Look you need to stay positive, they're not gonna waste our time with this. They're investing money on us. If they were just gonna deport us they would have just spent their money and time doing that. They know who we are. A lot of us pay taxes through an itin numbers and have many records showing that we have no legal status. This process is not for them to create a file for us. They are going to give us an opportunity. If you have no criminal record dont worry about all that. Im not saying its a for sure thing, but its very likely that most people will get accepted. They have to support and validate this program with numbers. Theyre not gonna say "we created this program and found that most applicants dont really qualify for this." Theyre going to want to prove that there are a lot of young people that meet all the qualifications and that this was a very successful move. Stay positive.

Yeah, when the second attorney told me financial records were not good enough my mouth dropped. I actually thought it would be my strongest evidence. The problem with being sent a request for evidence is that if you gave them all you had, and they still want more, you're kinda screwed at that point, i'd imagine. We can't make new evidence materialize out of nothing, and this lawyer is of the mind that you give them everything you have the first time (don't hold anything back).

I'm actually really counting on strength in numbers here. If, as you say, the majority (or even a nice percentage) of us are relying on financial data for evidence then it would be harder for them to deport us all. I think it's important for us all to stay in contact throughout the process, at least sound the alarm if there's a request or, even worse, a flat out denial so we can kinda look out for each other. That's why I love this place, it's how we can band together - technology, it rocks.

I did also kinda want to give a heads up for people who may have been about to file with what they thought was good enough evidence. I think the fact that there's such a wide opinion, even among lawyers, is that no one really knows what's going to happen. While there is a process and one person shouldn't, in theory, have your whole life in their hands, they are very upfront on the application that they don't owe us anything - which is worrisome.

I've spoken to three different lawyers and they're not even sure themselves what's going to happen because I've gotten different answers to my questions. Its why I didn't even bother to pay for a lawyer.

Listen, who cares brah?

It's your life.. Life is all about risk. If you want to play it safe be my guest. If somebody pulls you over its game over. So either way you're fucked, but applying to this at least gives us a fighting chance. We can improve our lives tremendously within TWO years.. Just simply think about it.

It's a chance, it may not be a permanent solution but it is something and no LAWYER nor US Citizen will ever stop me from taking advantage of this. Hell they'll make you feel down but at the end of the day they're the ones driving their cars, and not worrying about being deported.

Good luck on your decision

In regards to the bank statements, I would argue that if you have a transaction history (meaning, the card shows WHERE you have been making your purchases), it's a much more solid source of evidence. I did open a GE care credit card back in 2009, but it only showed that I was paying the debt off. It's not a credit card that you use to purchase gum, for example. Hence, I'm using bank statements/debit statements. They are in my name and show where I've been.

I'm 26 and I can understand COMPLETELY where you are coming from. I had an EAD/Soc. Sec # from USCIS, but the woman that my family applied had submitted our documentation under a bogus claim (and she was convicted and sentenced to prison). It was a big issue because a lot of people who applied through her ended up getting deportation orders (I never did).

My lawyer says it won't matter since I didn't lie on anything (he has my FOIA) and so it is what it is. I trust him since I've been with him for the last 8 years and he has helped a lot of people in my situation (from my school and outside).

I would suggest that if you feel REALLY scared to wait it out. But I would take the chance if I were you. Because really, we don't have time to waste anymore. The others may be 22, but I'm tired of living my life at home and broke. I'm tired of feeling ashamed. It's time for us to come out of the shadows and stop living in fear.

I'm still struggle to ind evidence to prove my exisitence

Also, I would like to add that lawyers don't really know what is going to happen.

We don't know how much evidence is necessary to avoid RFE. We don't know what will happen to those who really lived out life off the grid (no bank account, nothing to their name).

We don't know what type of infractions will get the quick hammer of DENIED. It's all pretty new with no set precedents.

So lawyers will have different opinions. Some are more cautious, some have are optimistic, others will say "go for it."

Until the legal community sees how things play out, I recommend that you go with your gut.