Temporary Protected Status is an immigration category for individuals who cannot safely return to their home country. The president has the power to designate countries as unsafe due to armed conflict, natural disaster, or other conditions that render the country unsafe. An individual seeking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) must be living in the United States at the time that the president makes the designation.
Countries currently designated as eligible for TPS
Residents of the following countries are currently eligible for TPS: Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar). Cameroon. El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen.
The president has the authority to add or remove any country to this list according to his personal judgment. Thus, once on the list, a country may be removed at any time, according to the president’s whim.
Individual requirements for TPS
In order to obtain TPS status, an individual must satisfy certain requirements. The individual must be a citizen of a country on the eligible list. The individual must demonstrate continuous physical resident in the United States from the date that their country of origin was placed on the protected list by the president. A person who is otherwise eligible for TPS may forfeit that eligibility by engaging in certain actions, such as criminal acts or immigration violations, that can cause the Immigration Service to reject their application for TPS.
Deadline for applying for TPS
The government’s placement of a specific country on the protected list is accompanied by a designation of an initial registration period. Any application for TPS associated with that country must be completed by the specified deadline. If the initial deadline has passed, the applicant may be able to seek “late initial registration.” Advice from an experienced immigration attorney may be helpful in seeking a late initial registration.