Articles Posted in Temporary Protected Status

We have announced the TPS for Syrians on March 23, 2012, today this is official. Due to the violent upheaval and deteriorating situation in the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that eligible Syrian nationals (and persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Syria) in the United States may apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

The TPS designation for Syria is effective today and will remain in effect through September 30, 2013. The designation means that eligible Syrian nationals will not be removed from the United States, and may request employment authorization. The 180-day TPS registration period begins today and ends on September 25, 2012.

To be eligible for TPS, Syrians must meet all individual requirements for TPS, including demonstrating that they have continually resided and been continually physically present in the United States since March 29, 2012. All individuals who apply for TPS will undergo a thorough security check.

Temporary Protected Status and Expired Employment Authorization Documents

One must accept a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiary’s expired Employment Authorization Document (EAD) if DHS has automatically extended its validity in a Federal Register notice. Automatically extended EADs are listed on the USCIS web site. EADs issued to TPS beneficiaries will include one of two category codes: “A-12” or “C-19.” You must not require an employee to provide proof that he or she is a national of a country that has been designated for TPS.

When creating a new case in E-Verify for newly hired TPS beneficiaries, select “Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766)” as the document presented and use the date to which the EAD was automatically extended as the expiration date. We recommend that you read the TPS information on the USCIS web site carefully, as the EAD automatic extension is usually shorter than the TPS extension date.