Visa Lawyer Blog
Today, April 5, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the Secretary of Homeland Security is extending the designation of South Sudan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, from May 3, 2019, through November 2, 2020. The extension allows currently eligible TPS beneficiaries to retain TPS through November 2, 2020, so long as they otherwise continue to meet the eligibility requirements for TPS.
Current beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under South Sudan’s designation who want to maintain their status through the 18-month extension period ending on Nov. 2, 2020, must re-register between April 5, 2019 and June 4, 2019.
All applicants must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status and request an EAD by submitting Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, when they file Form I-821 or separately at a later date.
USCIS will issue new EADs with a Nov. 2, 2020, expiration date to eligible beneficiaries under South Sudan’s TPS designation who timely re-register and apply for EADs.
Given the timeframe involved with processing TPS re-registration applications, however, USCIS recognizes that not all re-registrants will receive new EADs before their current EADs expire on May 2, 2019. Accordingly, USCIS has automatically extended the validity of these EADs for 180 days, through Oct.29, 2019.
The extension was granted after Secretary Nielsen announced that the statutory conditions supporting South Sudan’s TPS designation continue to exist and are made on the basis of ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary conditions. As a result of these conditions, South Sudan’s TPS designation has been extended through Nov. 2, 2020.
Re-registration procedures, including how to renew employment authorization documents (EADs), have been published in the Federal Register and are available at uscis.gov/tps.