Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a crucial immigration status established by the Immigration Act of 1990, designed to offer protection to nationals from specific countries facing severe challenges.
This status serves as a safeguard for individuals unable to return to their home countries due to ongoing armed conflicts, environmental disasters, or extraordinary conditions.
As of September 30, 2024, approximately 1.1 million individuals with TPS reside in the United States.
However, significant changes have occurred recently, as the administration of President Donald Trump announced the termination of TPS for up to 350,000 Venezuelans, with an additional 21,000 people also facing termination.
These terminations have sparked ongoing legal challenges in the courts.
### What Is Temporary Protected Status?
TPS provides a temporary immigration status for nationals of countries that have been designated due to pressing issues that render it unsafe for them to return.
Individuals granted TPS are afforded work permits and protection from deportation, facilitating their ability to live and work in the United States during crises in their home countries.
### Criteria for Designation of TPS Countries
Countries may be designated for TPS for several key reasons:
1. **Ongoing civil conflict:** Such conflicts can seriously jeopardize the safety of returning nationals.
2. **Environmental disasters:** Natural calamities like earthquakes or epidemics can severely disrupt living conditions, impairing the capacity of the nation to manage repatriated citizens adequately.
3. **Extraordinary conditions:** Any temporary conditions that could hinder the safe return of nationals can also justify a TPS designation.
### Authority to Designate for TPS
The authority to designate a country for TPS rests with the Secretary of Homeland Security, who exercises discretion based on consultations with various government agencies.
While specific agencies are not mandated by law, the Department of State, the National Security Council, and occasionally the Department of Justice are typically involved in this decision-making process.
Notably, the Secretary’s decision regarding TPS designations is not subject to judicial review under immigration law.
### Duration of TPS Designations
Typically, TPS designations can last for 6, 12, or 18 months.
At least 60 days before a designation expires, the Secretary must announce whether it will be extended or terminated, based on the prevailing conditions in the respective country.
If no announcement is made, the designation is automatically extended for six months.
### Eligibility for TPS
To qualify for TPS, individuals must meet specific requirements:
1. Be a national of a country with a TPS designation, or if stateless, have last habitually resided in that designated country.
2. Have been continuously physically present in the U.S. since the TPS designation’s effective date.
3. Have continuously resided in the U.S. since a date specified by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
4. Not be inadmissible under certain grounds related to criminal or national security reasons.
Nationals do not automatically receive TPS; they must register during designated periods and pay associated fees.
Crucially, applicants’ immigration status at the time of application does not impact TPS eligibility, nor does a previous order of removal.
### What Rights Does TPS Grant?
Eligibility for TPS requires individuals to apply through USCIS, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
If granted TPS, beneficiaries receive temporary deportation protections as well as work authorization.
Previously, TPS recipients could apply for advance parole for international travel; however, in July 2022, USCIS replaced this with the TPS-specific travel document, Form I-512T.
This document authorizes travel outside the U.S., allowing beneficiaries to re-enter the country under specific conditions.
Despite these protections, TPS beneficiaries remain ineligible for public assistance by virtue of their status.
### Current TPS Countries
As of June 2025, 17 countries held active TPS designations:
– Afghanistan (Extended until July 14, 2025)
– Burma (Valid through November 25, 2025)
– Cameroon (Extended until August 4, 2025)
– El Salvador (Extended until September 9, 2026)
– Ethiopia (Valid through December 12, 2025)
– Haiti (Extended through February 3, 2026)
– Honduras (Extended until July 5, 2025)
– Lebanon (Valid through May 27, 2026)
– Nepal (Extended until August 5, 2025)
– Nicaragua (Extended until July 5, 2025)
– Somalia (Extended until March 17, 2026)
– South Sudan (Extended until November 3, 2025)
– Sudan (Extended until October 19, 2026)
– Syria (Extended until September 30, 2025)
– Ukraine (Extended until October 19, 2026)
– Venezuela (2021 Designation extended until September 10, 2025)
– Yemen (Extended until March 3, 2026)
### Past TPS Countries
Since its establishment, several countries have lost their TPS designations, including:
– Angola (Expired March 29, 2003)
– Bosnia-Herzegovina (Expired February 10, 2001)
– Burundi (Expired May 2, 2009)
– Guinea (Expired May 21, 2017)
– Guinea-Bissau (Expired September 10, 2000)
– Province of Kosovo (Expired December 8, 2000)
– Kuwait (Expired March 27, 1992)
– Lebanon (Expired April 9, 1993)
– Liberia (Expired May 21, 2017)
– Montserrat (Expired August 27, 2004)
– Rwanda (Expired December 6, 1997)
– Sierra Leone (Expired May 21, 2017)
– Venezuela (2023 designation terminated April 7, 2025)
### Path to Permanent Residence or Citizenship
TPS does not automatically create a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship.
However, TPS recipients may apply for permanent residency if they qualify through other means.
The matter of eligibility is complex, particularly regarding individuals who entered the U.S. without formal inspection.
A recent Supreme Court ruling established that TPS recipients in this situation must leave the U.S. to apply for a visa through a consulate, potentially facing re-entry bars.
Some TPS holders could still adjust their status if they received advance permission to travel and were properly admitted back into the United States.
### Consequences of Ending TPS Designation
When a TPS designation concludes, beneficiaries revert to their previous immigration status prior to TPS, unless they have gained a new lawful status.
Those who entered the U.S. without inspection face particularly precarious situations, as they may become undocumented and subject to removal.
### Related Programs: Deferred Enforced Departure and Extended Voluntary Departure
Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) is another form of temporary relief, although it is based on presidential authority rather than specific legislation.
DED beneficiaries enjoy similar protections to TPS holders, including the ability to work, but travel abroad is not permitted.
As of June 2025, groups under DED include:
– Liberian nationals (effective until June 30, 2026)
– Certain residents of Hong Kong (effective until February 5, 2027)
– Palestinian nationals (effective until August 14, 2025)
– Lebanese nationals (effective until January 26, 2026)
Extended Voluntary Departure (EVD) served as a predecessor to TPS and was discontinued with the establishment of TPS.
This program once allowed nationals from certain countries facing hardships entry into the U.S. for temporary periods.
The transition from EVD to TPS marked a significant step in formalizing and streamlining temporary immigration relief.
image source from：https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/temporary-protected-status-tps-overview
