On November 20, 2014, the President announced a series of executive actions related to immigration. Known officially as the President’s Immigration Accountability Executive Actions, President’s Obama’s initiatives stand to benefit many immigrants and their families as well as the United States as a whole.
The President’s initiatives include:
- Expanding the population eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to young people who came to this country before turning 16 years old and have been present since January 1, 2010, and extending the period of DACA and work authorization from two years to three years |
- Allowing parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been in the country since January 1, 2010, to request deferred action and employment authorization for three years, in a new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program, provided they pass required background checks |
- Expanding the use of provisional waivers of unlawful presence to include the spouses and sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents and the sons and daughters of U.S. citizens |
- Modernizing, improving and clarifying immigrant and nonimmigrant programs to grow our economy and create jobs |
- Promoting citizenship education and public awareness for lawful permanent residents and providing an option for naturalization applicants to use credit cards to pay the application fee |
USCIS and other agencies and offices are responsible for implementing these initiatives as soon as possible. Some initiatives will be implemented over the next several months and some will take longer. We will be watching the developments closely to ensure our clients can take full advantage of the new procedures when available. If you would like to schedule an appointment with an attorney to discuss potential immigration options based upon President’s Obama’s executive action, please contact our office.