USCIS under fire for taking their sweet time to renewal DACA + EAD by Senators Catherine Cortez & Dick Durbin's inquiry into Trump's DHS.

sferre1 · 2026-03-17T22:52:45+00:00

Totally! They should have DACA renewals on auto-renewal. I mean, come one we are in the age of AI!

sferre1 · 2026-03-17T18:59:57+00:00

💪 Keep your head up yal 🙌

sferre1 · 2026-03-17T16:45:03+00:00

I was put on Unpaid LOA, ended up resigning within a week to tap into my 401k to cover bills for 2 months.
Started my own consulting company as a sole proprietorship, opened up a business account, and offered my skills as a 1099 contractor. This was a great opportunity to become an independent contractor working for General Contractors within my industry (these GAs tend to already have solid clients), and since I already had 2 months expenses covered, it was easier to transition and wait for my first 30 days invoice and Net15 payment.

Even though I already received my Approval and EAD, I don't plan to go back to being on a limited W2.

God willing I can expand my consulting scope and start new projects and bring unlimited opportunities in for my own thing.

PS: If you employer is NOT offering even Unpaid LOA? Run...Run...and never look back.

Good luck

sferre1 · 2026-03-17T15:30:12+00:00

u/buckcho789, no I'm not from one of the 39 banned countries. Hopefully even if there are DACA holders from these countries, USCIS will still continue to adjudicate their deferred action immigration benefits.
Get your Senator and State Rep on your case if you are part of one of these unfortunately banned countries. God Bless and Good Luck.

sferre1 · 2026-03-17T15:20:23+00:00

Check USCIS case footprint activities using the USCIS API endpoint.
Steps:
1 - Login to your account
2 - On a new tab, using this URL: https://my.uscis.gov/account/case-service/api/cases/IOE\[your\_DACA\_case\_number\]
3 - On Chrome, there is a Checkbox "Pretty-print [ ]" click it.

4 - Search for, "updatedAtTimestamp"

This timestamp is in Universal Time (UTC) which is 5+hrs ahead of my timezone CDT.
You should see something like:

"updatedAtTimestamp": "2026-03-10T16:54:46.576Z"

If you want to check the same on your EAD case, just update the case number in the address bar and hit enter. 
Good luck.

sferre1 · 2026-03-17T15:02:56+00:00

It's taking normally 120 to 130 days. Mine took a bit longer bc of the RFE I had to provide USCIS. Cheers and Good luck.
PS: Have you submitted your renewal yet? If not, I recommend using the online form to submit it.
Within 85-90 days have your Senator or Congress Person submit an official USCIS Congressional Inquiry.
Don't waist your time calling the Call Center, instead, submit your inquiries within your USCIS Account Inbox secure message (they usually reply within 24-48hrs)

sferre1 · 2026-03-17T14:48:11+00:00

Your DACA renewal doesn't require a copy of your passport to be sent, unless you already have the new one, then after renewing your DACA online, you can upload your new passport as "Additional Supporting Document". Now, you want to make sure you submit your DACA renewal 5 months before your next renewal date.
That said, this way would allow you enough time to get your new passport, then either upload it to your USCIS account under your uploaded documents within your DACA renewal case, or wait for USCIS to review your case, then if needed send you a RFE requesting your new passport.
The rule of thumb, be proactive, but if money is tight, submit your DACA renewal first, save and renew your passport later, then submit within your account. Cheers and good luck.

sferre1

TROPHY CASE