On Monday, September 8, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Federal Register Notice (FRN) affirming the DHS’s September 3, 2025 termination of the 2021 designation of Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) which was set to expire on September 10, 2025.  

Per the Federal Register Notice, the termination of the 2021 TPS designation for Venezuela is effective November 7, 2025, and after that date, nationals of Venezuela who have been granted TPS under the 2021 designation will no longer have TPS. DHS recognizes that Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries under the 2021 designation continue to be employment-authorized through November 7, 2025, and employers can now rely on the FRN to verify employees’ work authorization. As proof of continued employment authorization through November 7, 2025, TPS beneficiaries can present EADs with the notation A-12 or C-19 under “Category” and “Card Expires” dates of September 9, 2022, March 10, 2024, and September 10, 2025.  

Guidance for Employers 

The M-274 Handbook for Employers provides instructions to employers completing Form I-9 at Section 5.3, updated 4/8/2025, regarding automatic EAD extensions for TPS beneficiaries whose work authorization has been extended by FRN (Federal Register Notice).  

For New Employees: 

In Section 1, new employees presenting an EAD automatically extended by FRN must: 

• Select “An alien authorized to work;” and 

• Enter the TPS designation end date as the date employment authorization expires. Employers can find a link to their TPS country’s FRN on the USCIS TPS webpage.  

In Section 2, in the List A column, the employer must: 

• Enter “EAD” in the Document Title field.  

• Enter the document number from the EAD with Category A21 or C19, as applicable.  

• Enter the automatic extension date provided in the FRN as the document expiration date. For Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries under the 2021 designation, this date would be November 7, 2025.   

For Current Employees: 

For current employees whose EADs have been automatically extended by FRN, employers must provide updated information on Forms I-9. Employers should enter “EAD EXT” and the EAD automatic extension date from the FRN (November 7, 2025, for Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries under the 2021 designation) in the Additional Information field in Section 2.  

If an employee’s original Form I-9 was completed on a version that is no longer valid, employers should complete the latest version of Form I-9 as outlined above and retain it with the employee’s original Form I-9.  

Recent Court Decisions 

The current administration’s termination of TPS continues to face legal challenges. On September 5, 2025, U.S. Northern California District Court Judge Edward M. Chen ruled that the administration’s cancellation of TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians was unlawful and the administration’s vacating the prior administration’s consolidation of the TPS Venezuela 2021 and 2023 designations was also unlawful. Furthermore, Judge Chen acknowledged a U.S. Supreme Court order and said that the district court’s final order on the merits granting relief to the TPS plaintiffs is permitted because the U.S. Supreme Court’s earlier order only impacted the district court’s preliminary order.  

For those who wish to learn more about how to complete the Form I-9 and how the FRN and the recent court decision impacts TPS holders and their employers, please reach out to a Foster LLP attorney to schedule a consultation.   

Foster LLP will continue to monitor the evolving TPS litigation and provide additional updates once they become available via our firm’s website at fosterglobal.com