Temporary protected status (TPS) is a form of temporary immigration relief in the United States for nationals of countries affected by armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions that prevent their safe return. Created by the Immigration Act of 1990, it is designated country by country by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Eligible nationals already in the country may remain for a fixed period, usually 6 to 18 months and renewable, and in most cases receive work authorization. TPS does not by itself lead to permanent residence or citizenship. In March 2025, approximately 1,297,635 people held TPS. see Version History for prior years Graphics:
In 2025 and 2026, the second Trump administration moved to end TPS for most of the countries designated when it took office, including Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal and Syria. In June 2026, in Mullin v. Doe, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the TPS statute bars courts from hearing non-constitutional challenges to a termination, allowing the terminations for Haiti and Syria to proceed.
History
In 1990, as part of the Immigration Act of 1990 ("IMMACT"), P.L. 101–649, Congress established a procedure by which the Attorney General may provide temporary protected status to immigrants in the United States who are temporarily unable to safely return to their home country because of ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions."Pub. L. 101-649 Immigration Act of 1990". United States Department of Justice. March 4, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2018.Ostrow, Ronald J. (November 30, 1990). "Bush signs immigration reform law". Austin American-Statesman (Austin, Texas). p. A2.
On March 1, 2003, pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law 107–296, the former Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) of the Department of Justice was divided into three different agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, namely U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). As of October 2017, the authority to designate a country for temporary protected status rests with the United States Secretary of Homeland Security.
TPS beneficiaries and those who are found preliminarily eligible for TPS upon initial review of their cases are not removable from the United States, can obtain employment authorization, with an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and may be granted travel authorization via Form I-131, Application for Travel Document.
By 2017, the temporary protected status program covered people from ten countries, namely El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. By November 2017, about 300,000 foreign nationals were recipients of protection under temporary protected status.About 2,500 Nicaraguans to Lose Special Permission to Live in U.S. By Ron Nixon Nov. 6, 2017
Deferred Enforced Departure is a status similar to temporary protected status. It covers those who formerly had TPS from certain countries prior to its termination. It is active for Liberia through March 30, 2020 and covers those who had TPS as of the termination of the second most recent TPS designation of Liberian on September 30, 2007. Liberians covered by DED, as well as some Liberians not covered by DED, may be eligible for permanent resident status (a Green Card) under recently enacted legislation known as Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (LRIF).
The first Trump administration tried to end temporary protected status for certain individuals of certain nationalities, while advocacy groups recommended that people with temporary protected status be allowed to apply for permanent residency status.UCLA Study Recommends Permanent Residence for Immigrants in Temporary Protected Status (September 5, 2020)
The 2021 United States Supreme Court case Sanchez v. Mayorkas affirmed that temporary protected status only granted legal status to remain in the country and was not equivalent to lawful admission into the country. Thus, those immigrants that had entered the country unlawfully but had received temporarily protected status are ineligible to apply for permanent resident status simply through virtue of their temporary protected status.
As of March 2025 there were 1.2 million people eligible for or receiving TPS in the United States, and Venezuelans were the largest group.
President Trump issued Proclamation 10888, titled "Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion", which mandated various actions. Executive Order 14165 terminated various programs. Paroled individuals are only to be admitted, or allowed to remain in the U.S., if they show an urgent humanitarian need or if they can contribute significantly to the United States. This change creates uncertainty as to whether individuals who would have previously been granted temporary status under one of the categorical parole programs, or who are currently in the United States under one of those programs, will now be able to come into or stay in the United States.
Eligibility Designation of a country's nationals for temporary protected status allows all of those country's nationals who are in the United States on the day of the designation to apply for temporary protected status. Anyone from that country who enters after that date is not eligible. When the status comes up for expiration, the Attorney General of the United States may choose to redesignate, allowing that country's nationals who have entered since the original designation to apply, or to extend, which merely allows the previous recipients to maintain their status until the new expiration date.
A person who is a national of a country, or a person having no nationality who last habitually resided in that country, designated for temporary protected status is eligible to apply for temporary protected status benefits if he or she: Establishes the necessary continuous physical presence and continuous residence in the United States as specified by each designation; Is not subject to one of the criminal, security-related, or other bars to temporary protected status; and Applies for temporary protected status within the specified time period. If the Attorney General of the United States extends a temporary protected status designation beyond the initial designation period, the beneficiary must timely re-register to maintain his or her temporary protected status benefits under the temporary protected status program.
A person is not eligible for temporary protected status if he or she: Has been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States; Is a person who ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, or is otherwise subject to one of the bars to asylum; or Is subject to one of several criminal-related or terrorism-related grounds of inadmissibility for which a waiver is not available.
Late initial registration is available for those who did not apply during the initial registration period of a country's temporary protected status designation. In addition to meeting all of the other requirements for temporary protected status in one's own right (residence, physical presence, etc.), a late initial registrant must establish eligibility to file late by showing that one or more of the late initial filing conditions existed during the initial registration period and also within 60 days of filing the late initial temporary protected status application. Children and spouses of temporary protected status-eligible individuals cannot derive continuous residence or continuous physical presence from their parents or spouses for late initial filings.
Employment authorization TPS applicants are eligible to receive an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) based on temporary protected status only if they have a pending or approved initial Form I-821 (application for temporary protected status). Category C19 appears on Employment Authorization Documents issued while the initial Form I-821 is pending approval or denial; therefore, receiving a C19 Employment Authorization Document does not mean that an applicant has been granted temporary protected status. Category A12 appears on Employment Authorization Documents issued after the initial Form I-821 has been approved.
During the period for which a country has been designated for TPS, beneficiaries may remain in the United States and may obtain work authorization. A person in temporary protected status is considered as being in "lawful status as a nonimmigrant"."Immigration and Naturalization Act, Section 244(f). (8 U.S.C. 125)". United States Citizenship and Immigration Service. Temporary protected status does not provide a path to permanent resident status (green card) or United States citizenship.
TPSs is typically designated for between 6 and 18 months at a time for each country; once that time is up, the status expires and its beneficiaries revert to the same immigration status they maintained before TPS (unless that status had since expired). Accordingly, if an immigrant did not have lawful status prior to receiving temporary protected status and did not obtain any other lawful status during the designation of temporary protected status, the person reverts to unlawful status upon the expiration of that designation of temporary protected status. However, employment authorization documentation (EADs) and/or TPS approval notices that appear to contain expired validity dates on their face may be automatically extended without the need to file a new Form I-821 and/or Form I-765 per the most recent Federal Register Notices (FRNs) for each country.
Denial or withdrawal of application U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may withdraw TPS if the person was not originally eligible or is no longer eligible; if the person has left the U.S. without first receiving advance parole since status was granted; or if the person does not re-register within 30 days of the end each 12-month period of status, unless for good cause.))
As long as the current designation of TPS for a registrant's country remains active, withdrawal of TPS must be by written notice to the person from USCIS.
Applicants are not eligible to file a re-registration of TPS application if their initial Form I-821 has been denied or if United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has withdrawn its prior approval of their TPS. The automatic validity extension of certain TPS documentation for countries covered by the injunctions/litigation (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal) also does not apply for anyone whose TPS has been formally withdrawn by USCIS.
If temporary protected status has been denied or withdrawn, however, it is possible to file another initial Form I-821. USCIS will treat the new initial Form I-821 as a late initial registration application. The full initial application fees must be paid for all multiple initial Form I-821s, and in Part 1 of the new initial Form I-821, Box A must be selected.
If USCIS approves a subsequent initial Form I-821, the applicant's temporary protected status will be established or restored and she or he may thereafter file re-registration applications.
Alternatively, an applicant whose temporary protected status has been denied or withdrawn may follow the instructions provided in the Notice of Denial or Withdrawal for filing a Form I-290B (Notice of Appeal or Motion) or, if applicable, seeking de novo review of TPS eligibility before an Immigration Judge in deportation or exclusion proceedings.
Injunctions Section 302A of the Immigration Act of 1990 (later 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(5)(A))) states: