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DHS Extends TPS for Six Countries

12/8/2020
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced in a Federal Register Notice that it will comply with a series of court orders and injunctions by extending the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of beneficiaries from six countries for nine months. The six countries covered are:
  • El Salvador
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • Nepal
  • Nicaragua
  • Sudan
TPS status was set to expire for those from the aforementioned countries on January 2, 2021, and coverage will now continue to October 4, 2021. 
 

What is TPS?

 
TPS provides a safe haven in the U.S. for foreign nationals escaping from countries experiencing armed conflicts, natural disasters, and other events who may not qualify for asylum and for whom potentially dangerous situations in their home countries makes them disinclined to return. TPS allows recipients to live and work in the U.S., but it does not provide a path to permanent residence. The Secretary of the DHS must periodically review TSP status and can choose to extend it for periods of six to 18 months if conditions in the country continue to meet the requirements for designation. 
 

What the TPS Extension Means for Employers 

 
The Federal Register Notice automatically extends the expiration of all TPS-related documentation for the six covered countries through October 4, 2021. This documentation includes:
  • Employment Authorization Documents (EADs)
  • Forms I-797
  • Notices of Action 
  • Forms I-94
  • Arrival/Departure Records
More simply, the order allows covered individuals to live and work in the U.S. for the next nine months. It also spans through the Trump presidency and into President-elect Biden’s time in office. President-elect Biden has vowed to not return TPS recipients to unsafe countries.
 
Use the chart below to determine which documents a current TPS beneficiary may present, along with the new expiration date of their automatically extended EAD. 
 
If the employee’s EAD has
category code of A-12 or C-19
and a Card Expires date of:
Enter the new expiration date of
the employee’s automatically
extended EAD on Form I-9:
You must reverify the
employee before they
start work on:
07/22/2017 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
11/02/2017 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
01/05/2018 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
01/22/2018 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
03/09/2018 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
06/24/2018 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
07/05/2018 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
11/02/2018 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
01/05/2019 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
04/02/2019 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
06/24/2019 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
07/22/2019 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
09/09/2019 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
01/02/2020 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
01/05/2020 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
03/24/2020 10/04/2021 10/05/2021
01/04/2021 10/04/2021 10/05/2021

 

GoffWilson Immigration Law 

 
If you or your business have any questions about how this notice affects I-9 compliance, how to properly process I-9s for those with extended work authorizations like TPS, or have any issues with employees or would-be employees from these six countries, contact GoffWilson today. GoffWilson solely practices immigration law and is a valuable partner to businesses with foreign-born workers—helping them access a global workforce and remain in compliance with complex and ever-changing immigration law. Immigration isn’t just what we do, it’s our passion!
Filed under:Form I-9 Compliance, Immigration Law