USCIS announced that it is extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nine months — from January 4, 2021 to October 4, 2021 — for recipients from six countries, inluding El Salvador. The other five countries included in the announcement are Haiti, Nicaragua, Honduras, Nepal, and Sudan.
More than 400,000 people from 10 countries have the protected status, including some 250,000 from El Salvador, according ABC News. El Salvador first got TPS in 2001 after earthquakes displaced much of the population.
Honduras has about 80,000 TPS beneficiaries, followed by Haiti with 55,000, Nepal with nearly 15,000, Nicaragua with about 4,500 and Sudan with fewer than 1,000. TPS allows those eligible to stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation and to get work permits.
As a reminder, you are eligible for TPS if you meet the following requirements:
- You are a citizen of the qualified country who formerly lived there
- You have lived in the U.S. since your country was put under TPS
- You are competent in English
You cannot get TPS if you have done one of the following:
- Felony conviction
- Two or more misdemeanor convictions
- You have been found inadmissible due to security or criminal concerns
- You have persecuted or terrorized individual(s)
- Did not live in the U.S. when your country was put in TPS
- You have not consistently lived in the United States as a resident
- Failed to file proper paperwork during registration time
- Failed to re-register for TPS
The 9 month extension of TPS is less than the 18 month extensions that used to be standard. However, with a new administration which has promised to maintain TPS set to take office is a little over a month, this extension is a crucial bridge for those on TPS.
The decision is based on a ruling from October 3, 2018 that placed a permanent injunction on the Trump administration’s effort to terminate the TPS program. A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that injunction, but the appellate court has not issued the directive to the lower court to actually change their order.
Salmon Haas Law has helped many TPS beneficiaries with their cases. We also have experience advising and assisting TPS beneficiaries on other programs they may be eligible for that would give them legal status in the United States. If you want to learn more about we can help, contact our office for a free consultation.
