USCIS: DACA Renewal Median Wait Time 122 Days in 2026

Renewal wait times for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program have surged in the past year, reaching levels not seen since 2016 and leaving some of the more than 500,000 beneficiaries without status, jobs, or deportation protections. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data.

At the end of April 2026, USCIS reported that the majority of renewal requests were completed within about 122 days, marking a two-week increase from earlier that month. Some DACA applicants have waited six months or about 183 days or longer for renewals, according to federal lawmakers and immigrant groups. USCIS recommends applying for renewal 120 to 150 days before the status lapses.

The median wait time for DACA renewals in 2016 was about 79 days, with the Department of Homeland Security attributing those delays to technical issues during the transition to fully processing renewals in its electronic immigration system; USCIS data did not include 2020 because of the pandemic.

Melani Candia, who has lived in the United States since she was 6 years old and has been approved for DACA every two years for more than a decade, missed her renewal deadline in 2026 due to these delays. S.

For more than 25 years, lost her job and now fears detention. She was photographed in a neighborhood in Orlando, Florida, on April 23, 2026. “But now, having a new level of vulnerability, it was a very quick increase in the fear,” said Candia.

Every day, Candia checks on her renewal and expressed concern about being locked up in bad conditions in an ICE detention facility or returning to Bolivia after more than 25 years. Maria Fernanda Madrigal, an immigration attorney and DACA recipient who is a mother of three, submitted her renewal application about a month and a half before her deadline.

Earlier in April 2026, her DACA lapsed, and she was let go from her job; the DACA renewal fee is more than $550.

Madrigal was photographed at her home in Escondido, California, on April 23, 2026. “My first concern was my cases, to be honest, because I knew I was going to have to hand off everything, and my team is already overworked,” said Madrigal. She submitted the application later than recommended because she was waiting for her job to hold a DACA workshop to waive the fee, noting that such timing had sufficed in the past.

Elsa Sanchez, a single mother of a college freshman who works at a healthcare IT company, submitted her DACA renewal request more than five months before May 1, 2026. Her deadline passed at the beginning of April 2026, leading to her work permit expiring; she was put on leave from her job and now has no income.

Sanchez was photographed in Atlanta on April 29, 2026, and checked on her DACA renewal application that day; similar delays happened to her about a decade ago.

“I’m like, ‘I don’t know, maybe I can cut down on that. Maybe I don’t need this,’” said Sanchez, describing her worries about traveling and spending on household products like shampoos and detergents. She expressed fear of repercussions amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportations agenda.

Last week relative to May 1, 2026, the Board of Immigration Appeals determined that DACA status alone is not enough to stop deportation. In the first 11 months of 2025, more than 250 DACA recipients were arrested and 86 deported, according to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who stated that the majority of those arrested had criminal histories.

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security reported that in the first nine months of 2025, 270 DACA recipients were arrested and 174 DACA applicants were removed.

DACA eligibility depends in part on not having a felony conviction, a significant misdemeanor, or three misdemeanors. Zach Kahler, a USCIS spokesperson, stated that any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons, including if they committed a crime.

He added that under the leadership of President Trump, USCIS is safeguarding the American people by more thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens, which can lengthen processing times.

USCIS has paused processing renewals for people from dozens of countries described as high-risk following presidential proclamations, according to immigration attorneys. The National Immigration Law Center estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 people could be impacted by this pause.

Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, an attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, stated that the process with no timeline is leading to people from certain countries experiencing a pause and they do not know how long that pause will be in place.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla stated that DACA delays used to be a matter of weeks but now are from a few months to many months. He is behind letters sent to federal agencies, along with dozens of lawmakers, questioning inflated DACA wait times and targeting for arrest or deportation.

Biometric appointments for DACA, which were paused during the pandemic, have been restarted, according to experts. S. without conferring legal status but offering protection from deportation.

The program has faced legal battles, including two that reached the Supreme Court. A 2025 federal court decision means the government is not processing first-time DACA applications.