Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

As of early 2018, the following nations are designated for TPS:

• El Salvador
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Nepal
• Nicaragua
• Somalia
• Sudan
• South Sudan
• Syria
• Yemen.

To be eligible for TPS, you must:

• Be a national of a country designated for TPS, or a person without nationality who last habitually resided in the designated country;
• File during the open initial registration or re-registration period, or you meet the requirements for late initial filing during any extension of your country’s TPS designation.
• Have been continuously physically present (CPP) in the United States since the effective date of the most recent designation date of your country; and
• Have been continuously residing (CR) in the United States since the date specified for your country. The law allows an exception to the continuous physical presence and continuous residence requirements for brief, casual and innocent departures from the United States. When you apply or re-register for TPS, you must inform USCIS of all absences from the United States since the CPP and CR dates. USCIS will determine whether the exception applies in your case.

You may NOT be eligible for TPS or to maintain your existing TPS if you:

• Have been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States;
• Are found inadmissible as an immigrant under applicable grounds in INA section 212(a), including non-waivable criminal and security-related grounds;
• Are subject to any of the mandatory bars to asylum. These include, but are not limited to, participating in the persecution of another individual or engaging in or inciting terrorist activity;
• Fail to meet the continuous physical presence and continuous residence in the United States requirements;
• Fail to meet initial or late initial TPS registration requirements; or
• If granted TPS, you fail to re-register for TPS, as required, without good cause.

Pursuant to INA § 244(a)(1)(A), persons under TPS are shielded from deportation. However, the mere grant of TPS does not make the beneficiary admissible if he or she was inadmissible. Furthermore, the grant of TPS does not allow for pending removal proceedings to be terminated.

Persons on TPS are granted employment authorization for the shorter time period for 1 year, or for the duration of the initial TPS grant if it is shorter than 1 year. This employment authorization may be renewed with any extensions of TPS. Persons on TPS may travel abroad after being granted advance parole and subsequently be readmitted under TPS status rather than as a parolee provided that they return in a timely manner. However, since the grant of TPS does not waive the 3 or 10-year bars of inadmissibility, a TPS beneficiary who had accrued the requisite amount of unlawful presence should consult with an experienced immigration attorney before seeking to depart under a grant of advance parole. However, do note that pursuant to Matter of Arrabally & Yerrabelly, 25 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2012), attempting to reenter to the United States after being granted advanced parole will not trigger the 3 or 10 year bar of inadmissibility if the returnee has a pending adjustment of status application.