DACA and Green Cards: Current Pathways and Obstacles

DACA does not lead to a green card by itself. It is deferred action with a work permit. To become a permanent resident, a DACA recipient needs a separate legal route, such as marriage to a U.S. citizen, and then has to get past the rules that apply to how they entered the country and how long they were here without permission.

Two things shape the picture now. DACA itself is in a court-imposed holding pattern, and on August 13, 2026 a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals removed a safeguard that many people had relied on when traveling on advance parole. This article explains how the pieces fit together. It cannot tell you whether you qualify. For DACA recipients, that depends on facts an attorney has to look at before you take any step, and some steps, especially travel, are hard to undo. Facts are current as of September 21, 2026.

Where DACA stands

USCIS says that, because of court orders in the Texas litigation, it will continue to accept initial DACA requests but will not process them. It continues to accept and process renewals, and current grants of DACA and related work permits remain valid until they expire unless individually terminated. The orders trace back to a July 16, 2021 injunction, extended on October 14, 2022 to the DACA final rule, and a January 17, 2025 decision from the Fifth Circuit.

USCIS's DACA page says nothing about green cards. That silence is accurate: the program doesn't create a route to permanent residence. Any route has to come from somewhere else.

Three questions that decide most of it

1. How did you last enter the United States?

Adjusting status inside the United States generally requires having been "inspected and admitted or paroled." That is the language of the statute, and USCIS repeats it in its May 2026 policy memo on adjustment. People who crossed with a visa or other inspection were admitted. People who entered without inspection generally were not, and generally cannot adjust in the U.S. without an exception.

2. What is your route?

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, meaning spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of adult citizens, are exempt from several of the bars that apply to other categories, including some tied to status violations. Family preference categories and employment categories are not, and USCIS's Policy Manual says a person who is not in lawful nonimmigrant status is barred from employment-based adjustment, with limited exceptions. DACA recipients are not in lawful nonimmigrant status.

3. How much unlawful presence have you accumulated?

USCIS says time before age 18 does not count as unlawful presence. If you accrued more than 180 days and then leave the U.S., you can be barred from returning for three years; with a year or more, for ten. Whether and how time on DACA counts is a fact-specific question that USCIS's unlawful presence page does not address, and it is one to put to an attorney with your exact dates.

The routes, one by one

Entered with inspection, and has an immediate-relative route

This is the most straightforward case: someone who was admitted, for example on a visa or at a border crossing, and who is now married to a U.S. citizen or is the child of one. If everything else lines up, they may be able to adjust status without leaving the country. USCIS's May 2026 memo says that adjustment is discretionary and emphasizes weighing positive and negative factors, so a strong file matters, but it does not change the underlying eligibility rules.

Entered without inspection

Adjustment inside the U.S. is generally unavailable. One exception in the statute is Section 245(i), which applies to certain people who were the beneficiaries of a petition or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001. Without an exception, the usual path is consular processing, meaning an immigrant visa interview abroad. Leaving the U.S. can trigger the three- or ten-year bars described above.

The tool designed for this is the provisional unlawful presence waiver (Form I-601A). It lets certain relatives of U.S. citizens or permanent residents ask for a waiver of the unlawful presence bars before leaving for the consular interview. The applicant must show that a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent would suffer extreme hardship if the applicant were refused admission, and approval is discretionary.

Advance parole, and what changed on August 13

DACA recipients can ask for advance parole with Form I-131, and USCIS generally issues it only for humanitarian, educational or employment purposes. For years, one part of the reasoning was that a person who left on advance parole and came back was "paroled" for purposes of adjustment, and that the trip was not a "departure" that would trigger the unlawful presence bars. That rested on a 2012 Board of Immigration Appeals decision, Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly.

On August 13, 2026, the Board issued Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, 29 I&N Dec. 830, which overruled Arrabally. USCIS's alert says that as of that date, departing the United States after obtaining an advance parole document is a departure for purposes of the unlawful-presence ground of inadmissibility. People who have accrued unlawful presence, or have a removal order, may be inadmissible when they return.

Three limits on what we can say. USCIS's alert does not mention DACA recipients by name. It does not say whether the decision applies to trips already taken. And whether a particular DACA recipient has enough unlawful presence to be affected depends on their history. The safe reading is that anyone who has any unlawful presence should assume advance parole travel now carries real risk until an attorney says otherwise. Separately, USCIS's May memo describes parole as temporary and says officers should look closely at discretion when someone who was paroled or admitted temporarily seeks adjustment.

Employment-based routes

Because employment-based adjustment requires lawful nonimmigrant status, and DACA is not that, adjustment inside the U.S. is generally unavailable unless an exception such as 245(i) applies. Consular processing is possible, with the same bar issues described above.

Before you do anything

Do not travel abroad without individualized legal advice, even with advance parole. This is the one step in this article that can permanently change your options.
Keep DACA renewals on time. Renewals are still being processed, and a lapse creates problems of its own.
Gather proof of how you entered. Your I-94 record, passport stamps, visa and any inspection paperwork can matter more than anything else in the case.
Get the right kind of help. A licensed immigration attorney or an accredited representative at a DOJ-recognized organization. Be cautious about anyone who isn't, including "notarios."

Waiting has costs too, so the goal is to find out where you stand, not to freeze. For what can slow an adjustment case once it is filed, see why an I-485 can take so long.

DACA Recipients and Green Cards: The Pathways, and What Changed in August 2026

Where DACA stands

Three questions that decide most of it