Applying for Deferred Action

What You Will Need to Do to Prepare to Apply for Deferred Action

1 You will need to complete the office form that we have prepared for all Deferred Action applicants. If you have any questions, ask us for clarification. Be truthful in filling out the office form. Birth Certificate Certified copy from your government. You will leave that with us so we can turn it in with your application. We advise you to obtain 2 extra ones for other uses in the near future. If you are married, your marriage certificate. You will leave that with us so we can turn it in with your application. We advise you to obtain 2 extra ones for other uses in the near future. If you are divorced, your divorce decree, certified. You will leave that with us so we can turn it in with your application. We advise you to obtain 2 extra ones for other uses in the near future. If you remarried again, repeat like No. 2, above. If you are divorced again, repeat like No, 3 above. Your passport and/or matricula. Any other form of identification that you have that has your picture on the front of the ID. School records from each school you attended. Your high school diploma, if you have graduated Your GED if you had that document. If you left school and did not graduate, you will need proof that you are enrolled in a GED class at the time of your application. If you are in college, a university, or in some educational program, provide records that will serve as evidence that you are/or were a student enrolled at that institution. If you have worked or are working, a letter from the company that you worked for or are working for that is printed on the companys letterhead that certifies that you, by name, were or are employed at the company, whether your job is fulltime or part-time, when you started at the company, when you left the company,

2.

3.

4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12.

13.

14.

the position that you had while employed at the company, and the wage you were paid, by the hour, day, week, bi-weekly or semi-weekly. The letter must be signed by a person at the company who has responsibility to sign such letters. A sample letter is on our website or you can ask us for sample letters for your employers. 15. To cover years in your life after you left high school, you will need to produce copies of any record that shows your name that can either be a record, a receipt, a report, or a statement of your involvement with those entities, water bill, electric bills, gas bills, telephone bills, cellular phone bills, rent contracts, any purchase and installments contracts, credit cards, banks, medical records, Criminal background letter. We have a copy of the letter you can present to the office of the District Clerk for the counties where you have resided while living in the United States. This letter can be downloaded from our website. We have Google maps of the District Clerk for Harris, Montgomery and Ft. Bend. Montgomery and Ft. Bend use a form, which is on our website. Harris County does not use an online form. When you go there they will ask you for the name and date of birth of the person you want the search conducted on. The fee is between $5.00 to $6.00. All we need is one copy from each county. If you have any criminal record, felony or misdemeanor, you will need to produce a certified copy of the record. The certified record will tell us the offense that was charged, the date of the offense, and the manner in which the matter was disposed of by the court.

16.

17.

The only crimes that you need not worry about are known as traffic transgressions, like running a stop sign, traffic light, no drivers license, no insurance, and speeding. If you hit somebody and run and are charged with a Class B or A misdemeanor, you need to share that information with us. Likewise, if your traffic stop turns into a significant charge, share that with us. Criminal arrests, charges, convictions will be analyzed by us on a case by case basis. We will be able to tell you the odds of qualifying for Deferred Action. Our attorney fees will be adjusted upward if your case contains felonies, significant misdemeanors or 3 or more misdemeanors. 18. Government Fee: The government fee will be $465.00. $380.00 is for the Employment Authorization fee and $85.00 is for the biometrics fee. You may turn over that money to us at any time, but it must be before we file the application. You may pay by cash, check, money order or cashiers check. We will provide you with a receipt of any payment you make to us. Attorney fee: The attorney fee will be $200.00. Like, the fee above, you will need to pay us that fee at any time, but it must be paid before we file the

19.

application. You may pay by cash, check, money order or cashiers check. We will provide you with a receipt of any payment you make to us. 20. 2 photographs of your face, passport type, measuring 2 inches by 2 inches, with a white background, in color. Kinkos Wal-Mart, and Fiestas are places where you can go for these photos.

What We Will Be Doing

Our work involves putting your application package together. The time it takes us to finish the job is going to depend on the complexity of your case. Each case is different. Some cases will be easier than others and others will be harder than others. If you prepare yourself with the documents that we have requested above, it will make your case move faster. Each time we run into a snag, we will call you to clarify. So answer our calls to you and get back to us immediately. We will tell you what we are looking for. If there is something that you will need to do, we will inform you. Our office will assume the responsibility of translating your birth certificates and other legal documents that we will be submitting to the government. We will fill out the applications and prepare your supporting documents, the evidence that supports your application for Deferred Action. When we are ready, we will call you back to the office to go over your material and if ready, will ask for your signature where needed. We will then prepare the package for storage in our system and for mailing. Once we mail the package, we will provide you with a digital copy of your package, along with proof of mailing via United States Postal Service, Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested.

What Happens After Your Application Package is Filed

Once your package is mailed, the government has announced that the entire process will take approximately 24 weeks. Within a 45 day period, you will start to receive letters from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) responding to your application. The first letters should reflect the receipt of the fees you paid the government. These letters should inform you that a separate letter will be mailed to you informing you of your scheduled appointment for your biometrics, your fingerprints and your official government pictures. The letter, when you receive it, will tell you the date, time and place of the biometrics appointment. If you miss the appointment, call our office so we can tell you how to reschedule it. For the appointment, you will need to take documents that identify you, your passport or matricula or both, along with the appointment letter. Now you will get into the long wait. Something should be getting to you in the 24 week span mentioned above. What you should be expecting is a document known as an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). It is a plastic card with your face picture on the front, along with your

name, your immigration number, the type of card that you have been issued and the expiration date of the EAD. Make a copy of the EAD for your records. Once you have your EAD, you may now go to the Social Security office nearest you and register with the Social Security. Take your EAD, your birth certificate, and if married and/or divorced, those documents that better identify you, and your passport and matricula. It take 2 to 3 weeks for a Social Security Card to be mailed to you. Once you get it, make a copy and save it. Once you have your Social Security Card, take your EAD, your Social Security Card and the documents that identify you to DPS to take your drivers license test to get your drivers license or your Texas identification.

Travel
Once you have your EAD, you are free to travel anywhere in the United States. Always carry your EAD with you. If you want to travel abroad, get back to us. There is a process that you will have to go through to obtain permission from the government to permit you to re-enter the United states once you leave the United States. The process is known as advanced parole. There is a form associated with requesting permission to travel abroad and a government fee that must be paid. You cannot travel abroad nor request permission to travel abroad until after you have your EAD. Stick to your routine travel arrangements until you have your EAD in hand. As you wait for your EAD, stay at the address that you had at the time you applied. Do not be moving around from one address to another during this time. You do not want to miss the mail. If you change addresses while you are waiting for your EAD, you will need to notify the government and us. Call us so we can assist you. If you change addresses at anytime while you are a holder of Deferred Action status, you will need to notify the government and us. Call us so we can assist you.

Appeal
There is no appeal or re-consideration for Deferred Action. The government will generally be writing you letters asking you to submit more evidence if they run into a

problem with your case. We will work with you as best as we can to assist you in your response, if it should come to that.

Reapplying for Deferred Action

Reapplying for Deferred Action will generally take place about 180 to 90 days before the expiration of the Deferred Action Status expiration date noted on your EAD card. At that time, the process does not require all of the evidence that you submitted the first time. Regardless, try to maintain a copy of activities that you are involved with that reflects your name and date of transaction.

What Happens If I Turn 31 and Beyond

The government informed the public on August 3, 2012, that aging out will not affect holders of Deferred Action status provided that were under the age of 31 on June 15, 2012. So if you hit 31 and above, reapplication will not be a problem, ever. This turning of age is referred to as aging out. You will not be affected as you get older. Once in, age will not be a reason to lose your Deferred Action status.

How Long Will Deferred Action Last?

That is a political question. The best example we can provide is to look at holders of Temporary Protected Status, about 1/2 million such holders. Most of them have held that status for 11 years. Presidential office holders generally honor Executive orders of prior administrations. That is just a general rule, not the law. Much of TPS was started by George Bush (43) and kept going under Obama.

Maintaining Deferred Action Status

Maintaining Deferred Action status is really your responsibility. Keep your nose clean, always.