How Can a DACA Recipient Get a Green Card Without Marriage?

As a DACA recipient, you may have options for obtaining a green card other than marrying a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The available paths depend on how you first entered the country, your immigration history, family connections, job skills, and whether you qualify for special humanitarian protections.

Understanding DACA and Green Card Eligibility

DACA itself does not directly give you a path to a green card. It is a form of deferred action that delays deportation, not a legal immigration status. When you have DACA, the government agrees not to remove you for a specified period, and you may also be allowed to work legally.

You might have a qualifying family member or employer that could file an immigration petition on your behalf, but an approved petition does not necessarily make you eligible for a green card. Your immigration history can determine which green card processes are available to you and whether you have a legal way to become a permanent resident.

Potential Green Card Pathways for DACA Recipients

You may qualify for a green card through existing immigration pathways. Note that these petitions for legal status are only one part of the process. To receive a green card, you must also qualify to adjust your status in the US or complete immigrant visa processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

Family-Based Petitions

Certain U.S. citizens and permanent residents can file family-based immigrant petitions for qualifying relatives using Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative.

U.S. citizens may petition for certain parents, children, and siblings, subject to the requirements for each category. A U.S. citizen must be at least 21 years old to petition for a parent. Lawful permanent residents may petition for unmarried children. Some relatives fall into family-preference categories and must wait for an immigrant visa to become available.

Employment-Based Immigration

Some DACA recipients may qualify for an employment-based immigrant category based on their education, skills, or a job offer.

This usually involves an employer filing Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, but the requirements are not the same for every category.

For some EB-2 and EB-3 cases, employers must get approval from the U.S. Department of Labor before filing. Certain EB-1 classifications do not require labor certification, and some applicants seeking an EB-2 National Interest Waiver may request that the job-offer and labor-certification requirements be waived.

Approval of a work-based petition does not automatically mean a DACA recipient can adjust their status within the United States. Additional eligibility requirements apply for employment-based adjustment.

Humanitarian Immigration Options

Asylum may be available to those who have suffered persecution or have a well-founded fear of persecution, through Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal.

Victims of qualifying crimes may be eligible for U nonimmigrant status, while victims of human trafficking may qualify for T nonimmigrant status. Both can potentially lead to permanent residence if the applicant later satisfies the applicable green card requirements.

The Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, provides immigration protections for certain abused spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

These programs should not be treated as interchangeable. Each has specific eligibility rules, and they require different evidence and processes.

Advanced Degrees and National Interest Waivers

An advanced degree may be relevant to certain employment-based or special visa categories. For example, The EB-2 category is for professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional skills.

Some applicants in this category can apply for a National Interest Waiver (NIW) and self-petition for a green card without needing an employer sponsor or a labor certification. An applicant seeking an NIW must have qualifying education and work experience, and they need to be able to demonstrate that their work has national importance to the United States.

Why Adjustment of Status Eligibility Matters

While you may qualify for legal immigration status under one of these categories, that does not necessarily mean you can legally become a permanent resident from within the United States.

Adjustment of status allows eligible immigrants to apply for a green card from within the United States. Your original way of entering the U.S., whether you have unlawful presence, prior deportation orders, or criminal records, can all influence whether you can adjust your status. If you do not qualify for adjustment of status, you may be able to apply for a green card through consular processing, but that requires leaving the country to apply from a U.S. embassy or consulate.

An Immigration Lawyer Can Review Your Options

Your entry history and any unlawful presence or prior removal proceedings can change the available options for a green card. Before you file any application or plan to leave the U.S. for consular processing, consider having your full immigration history reviewed by an experienced immigration attorney.

FAQs

Does getting a green card automatically end DACA?

A person who becomes a lawful permanent resident no longer needs DACA. Permanent resident status provides separate authorization to live and work permanently in the United States, subject to the requirements for maintaining that status.

Can advance parole affect a DACA recipient’s green card options?

It can in some cases. If you have DACA and get advance parole (permission to re-enter the U.S. after traveling abroad), that may satisfy the inspection requirement for adjustment of status. However, advance parole does not guarantee green card eligibility, and traveling outside the United States can have immigration consequences, so you should have your individual history reviewed before traveling.

Do DACA recipients accrue unlawful presence?

USCIS generally does not count time during an approved DACA period as unlawful presence. However, unlawful presence accrued before or after that period may still matter, particularly if you leave the United States and become subject to an unlawful-presence ground of inadmissibility.