2024 Update Regarding Temporary Protected Status

The Department of Homeland Security redesignated temporary protected status for Haitian nationals from 8 August 2024 through 3 February 2026. See 89 Fed. Reg. 54484 (July 1, 2024). For Haiti specific information, applicants may find more information on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’s temporary protected status webpage.

Temporary Protected Status from 2021-2023

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security authorized temporary protected status (“TPS”) for Haitian nationals and stateless persons who last resided in Haiti. Thus, Haitian temporary protected status applicants needed to apply for relief during the registration period (3 August 2021 through 3 February 2023). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services required that applicants file the I-821 Form when requesting temporary protected status.

Haitian citizens and stateless persons applying for temporary protected status must have continuously resided in the United States since 29 July 2021 and been continuously present in the U.S. since 3 August 2021. The Department of Homeland Security published the notice in the federal register on 3 August 2021. See 86 Fed. Reg. 41863 (Aug. 3, 2021).

Applying for Temporary Protected Status

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services allows foreign nationals to file I-821 Forms online. Additionally, foreign nationals may file the I-821 Form by mail. When filing an I-821 Form by mail, applicants should review USCIS’s webpage for the proper mailing address. During the application process, applicants may also file the I-765 Form to request employment authorization.

After USCIS grants temporary protected status, a TPS beneficiary should not depart the U.S. without permission from USCIS. For example, TPS beneficiaries must request advance parole before departing from the United States. Leaving the United States before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approves advance parole can cause USCIS to terminate temporary protected status.