What is Temporary Protected Status? T. P. S.

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What is Temporary Protected Status?

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a temporary immigration status granted to eligible nationals of designated countries (or parts thereof) who are temporarily unable to return to their homeland because of ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.

During the period for which the U.S. Attorney General has designated a country under the TPS program, TPS beneficiaries are not required to leave the United States and may obtain work authorization.

However, TPS does NOT lead to permanent resident status.

Upon termination of a country's TPS designation, beneficiaries return to the same immigration status they maintained before TPS (unless that status had since expired or been terminated) or to any other status they may have acquired while registered for TPS. Accordingly, if an alien had unlawful status prior to receiving TPS and did not obtain any status during the TPS period, he or she will revert to that unlawful status upon the termination of that TPS designation.

Who is Eligible?

An alien who is a national of a country (or alien having no nationality who last habitually resided in that country) designated by the Attorney General is eligible to apply for benefits under the TPS program if he or she:

establishes continuous physical presence and continuous residence in the United States for a specified period of time; is not subject to several criminal and security-related bars; and timely registers for TPS benefits.

If the Attorney General extends a TPS designation beyond the initial designation period, the beneficiary must timely re-register to maintain his or her benefits under the TPS program.

An alien is not eligible for TPS if s/he:

has been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States; is a persecutor, terrorist or otherwise subject to one of several security-related bars to asylum; or is subject to one of several criminal-related grounds of inadmissibility for which a waiver is not available.

Countries (or parts thereof) which are currently designated under the TPS program are listed below:

Angola
Montserrat
Burundi
Nicaragua
El Salvador
Sierra Leone
Honduras
Somalia
Liberia
Sudan

For more specific information relating to eligibility, see INA section 244(c)(2) and 8 CFR §§ 244.1 - 244.4.

The Dark Knight, July 30 2009, 6:39 AM

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