Temporary Protected Status For Yemen
This piece is contributed by Jessica Reino, who has assisted with initial intakes of non-immigrant employment-based applications, as well as prepared family-based applications, humanitarian applications, and deportation cases before Immigration Court.
As of September 3, 2015, the Secretary of Homeland Security has designated Yemen for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to the ongoing armed conflict in the country. The 180-day registration will run from September 3, 2015 through March 1, 2016. People without nationality who last resided in Yemen are eligible to apply, providing that they meet eligibility requirements set by USCIS and have been continuously and physically present as well as continuously residing in the United States since the designation on September 3, 2015. Once applicants are approved for TPS status, they will not be removed from the United States based on immigration status and may receive Employment Authorization.
Currently USCIS is not accepting e-file applications for TPS Yemen applicants. As a reminder, when filing for initial TPS, the TPS application (Form I-821) must be filed along with an application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765) even if the applicant does not want an Employment Authorization. Filing fees do apply unless a waiver (I-912) is filed with sufficient supporting documentation. For more detailed information please refer to the Federal Register 80 FR 53319.
Additionally, when discussing Yemen’s TPS designation, it is also important to note that the auto-extension of Employment Authorization for El Salvador has ended on September 9, 2015 and the auto-extension of Employment Authorization for Syria will be ending on September 30, 2015. For more information on these dates as well as TPS designated countries and criteria, please refer to USCIS’s TPS website, or contact Jessica Reino, our resident immigration expert who helps attorneys with all types of family-based applications, humanitarian applications and deportation cases before Immigration Court as well as assisting with H-1B applications.