What Is TPS?
The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program provides lawful immigration status and work authorization to migrants who cannot return to their countries of origin due to war or other disasters.
Congress created TPS in 1990 to provide a clear process for granting humanitarian protection to immigrants from covered countries. Today, thirteen countries (Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen) are designated for TPS, and more than one million immigrants receive protection from the program.
What’s the Most Urgent Update Right Now?
The TPS program is under attack. The Trump Administration has made clear its intent to revoke TPS protections–regardless of whether it is safe for TPS holders to return to countries experiencing war and other disasters, and regardless of whether it is fair to uproot TPS holders from lives, homes, and families built while living and working lawfully in the United States.
So far, the Trump Administration has announced the termination of TPS for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans who initially registered for TPS under the country’s 2023 designation.
The Department of Homeland Security must make a decision at least 60 days prior to the end date of a country’s TPS designation whether to extend or terminate the designation. Click here for country designation dates.
Do I qualify for TPS?
To be eligible for TPS, you must:
- Be a citizen of a country designated for TPS, or a person without nationality who last lived in the affected country. See Temporary Protected Status | USCIS for a current list of designated countries.
- File during the initial registration or re-registration period, or meet the requirements for filing late during any extension of the country’s TPS status.
- Have been continuously present in the United States since the effective date of the country’s original or extended TPS status.