President Joe Biden announced a new immigration policy that could allow DACA beneficiaries greater access to H-1B visas and other employment visas, and eventually, the application for a green card.
The DACA program was created by President Obama in 2012 to protect young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States by their parents. In 2021, a Texas district court ruling declared DACA illegal for new participants but allowed the program to continue for those already enrolled.The Limits of DACA
DACA in its original form does not guarantee permanent residency for its beneficiaries, placing them in a permanent limbo. According to current immigration rules, an immigrant who has been in the country without status for more than a year must leave the country and apply for a waiver (D-3) at a U.S. consulate, which, if approved, may allow that immigrant to return to the United States.
The problem is that this waiver cannot be requested in advance; as a result, before leaving the country and potentially being barred from re-entering the United States for 10 years, an individual does not know if a consular officer will grant the D-3 waiver and how long the process will take.
The consular officer is the only one with discretionary power to grant or deny the waiver. This makes most immigrants reluctant to risk being away from the country for years, and they end up preferring to remain here without status.What Did Biden Change with the New Measure Announced?
Easier Process: The government will clarify and improve the current waiver and employment visa application process to make it faster and more predictable. They want to ensure that people who studied in the U.S. can remain in the country.
Eligibility Requirements: Biden’s executive order will not change the basic requirements for obtaining work visas like the H-1B. However, it may indicate a policy shift to prioritize applications from individuals who graduated from U.S. colleges and universities, including DACA beneficiaries and Dreamers. How this prioritization will be implemented in practice will depend on specific policies and regulations developed in response to the executive order, which have not yet been outlined.
Waivers for Illegal Presence: For individuals who may be inadmissible due to illegal presence for more than a year in the U.S., the government aims to provide additional security and speed in the waiver application process. Overall, this implies a softer and quicker approach to waivers for this specific group of applicants.
The biggest benefit of obtaining a work visa for a DACA beneficiary is that it opens the possibility of obtaining a green card through employment-based sponsorship.