The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced the 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of several countries (and individuals without nationality who last resided in those countries), including Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine, and Sudan.  

 DHS can designate a country for TPS if conditions in the country temporarily prevent the country’s citizens from returning safely. This can include, for example, an environmental disaster (as in the case of El Salvador), an ongoing armed conflict (as in the case of Ukraine), or other humanitarian or political crisis (as in the case of Venezuela and Sudan). TPS beneficiaries are not removable from the United States and are eligible to obtain an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and travel authorization.  

Only individuals already in the United States who previously registered for and were granted TPS under their country’s prior designation can re-register for TPS. Current TPS beneficiaries must timely re-register during their country’s 60-day re-registration period to maintain their TPS and employment authorization. If approved, USCIS will extend their TPS status through September or October 2026, depending on the applicant’s country of nationality.  

In addition to the extension of the TPS designation, DHS will automatically extend the validity of Employment Authorization Documents previously issued under the country’s previous TPS designation since not all re-registrants may receive a new EAD before their current EAD expires.  

All TPS applicants go through rigorous vetting during the original application process and again during re-registration. Individuals posing a national security or public safety threat may be detained, removed, or further investigated or prosecuted, as appropriate. 

For assistance in determining eligibility for TPS re-registration, contact your Foster immigration attorney. Foster continues to follow developments impacting immigration benefits and will provide additional information as it becomes available via future Immigration Updates©, and on our firm’s website at www.fosterglobal.com.