USCIS announces 18-Month Extension of Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador
It has been recently proclaimed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible EI Salvador nationals will be extended by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS.) The current expiration date of Sept. 9, 2010 has been extended to March 9, 2012.
DHS in collaboration with the Department of State assessed the conditions in EI Salvador last year. The review concluded that the conditions that necessitated the 2001 TPS of EI Salvador as a result of subsequent severe earthquakes still continues. This is temporarily preventing Salvador nationals from returning to their country. Thus Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security has arrived at the conclusion that the existing Salvadoran TPS has to be extended for 18 months.
The extension allows individuals who already have a TPS to re-register and extend their status for an additional 18 months. Around 217,000 EI Salvador nationals are eligible for the re-registration. Salvadoran nationals who entered the US after Feb. 13, 2001 cannot benefit from the Temporary Protected Status extension. The re-registration period is between July 9 and Sept. 7, 2010. Salvadoran TPS beneficiaries are obliged to re-register as soon as the re-registration period begins since USCIS requires time to go ahead with background checking and processing.
Eligible TPS beneficiaries will be issued a new Employment Authorization Document (EAD) by USCIS once they re-register and apply for EADs. Also, the validity of existing EADs will automatically be extended for six months until March 9, 2011.
In order to re-register, eligible TPS beneficiaries are required to file the Application for Temporary Protected Status, Form I-821. Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization has to be filed along with the processing fee by applicants who seek to extend their Employment Authorization Document. Applicants seeking only to re-register for TPS, should still file Form I-765, but need not pay the filing fee.