The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on November 1, 2019, the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) related documentation for beneficiaries under the TPS designation for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan through January 4, 2021.
The notice, which appeared in the Federal Register, automatically extends the validity of Employment Authorization Documents (EAD); Forms I-797 Notice of Action; and Forms I-94 Arrival/Departure Record (collectively, TPS-related documentation). The validity dates for the affected countries are as follows:
|
TPS Designation(s)
|
Current Expiration Date |
New Expiration Date |
|
El Salvador, Haiti,
Nicaragua, and Sudan
|
January 2, 2020 |
January 4, 2021 |
|
Honduras |
January 5, 2020 |
January 4, 2021 |
|
Nepal |
March 24, 2020 |
January 4, 2021 |
DHS is taking this action to extend the TPS documentation in compliance with the preliminary injunctions of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Ramos, et. al. v. Nielsen, et. al.1 and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Saget, et al. v. Trump, et al., and with the order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to stay proceedings in Bhattarai v. Nielsen.
TPS beneficiaries may show their automatically extended EAD to employers to demonstrate that they have continued employment authorization. We also recommend TPS beneficiaries show employers the
Federal Register Notice to demonstrate that their TPS-related documentation has been extended through January 4, 2021.
Employers can determine if a current TPS employee or a prospective TPS beneficiary is covered by the Federal Notice by inspecting the EAD. If an EAD has a category code of A-12 or C-19, the employer should compare the expiration date to those listed in the Federal Notice Register. If the dates compare, then the EAD is automatically extended to January 4, 2021. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
released a chart for employers to determine which documents a current TPS beneficiary from one of the six countries may present when completing or updating the Form I-9, as well as the new expiration date of their automatically extended EADs.
Current TPS beneficiaries from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan do not need to file any application to maintain their TPS status through January 4, 2021, provided they properly re-registered. A TPS beneficiary who failed to properly re-register may file an Application for Temporary Protected Status (Form 821) but must demonstrate “good cause” for failing to re-register on time. Any currently eligible beneficiary who does not have a pending EAD application under TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan may file Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization, with the appropriate fee.
The Federal Register Notice explains what documentation the TPS beneficiary can present to an employer for I-9 purposes and how the employer completes the initial I-9 or updates the employment of an already employed TPS beneficiary. The Federal Register Notice also provides instructions to E-Verify employers.
Any questions may be directed to any of our immigration attorneys.