Temporary Protected Status · Form I-821
TPS protects you while it lasts. The plan for what comes next starts now.
We handle TPS registrations and re-registrations, work permits, and travel requests, and we review every TPS holder's history for a longer-lasting option before a designation ends.
TPS is not a green card, and it does not count as an admission. If you entered without inspection, TPS alone does not let you apply for a green card here.
Designation · Registration · Protection
TPS depends on your country's designation, not only on you.
The Secretary of Homeland Security designates a country for TPS because of conflict, disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. Eligible nationals already in the United States can then register. Designations are reviewed, extended, or terminated by notice in the Federal Register.
Your country must be designated
TPS is available only for nationals of a designated country, or people without nationality who last habitually lived there. The list changes, so check the current USCIS country page before relying on anything you heard.
Official sourcesYou must register, then re-register
Initial registration happens during a set window. After that, TPS continues only if you re-register in each period USCIS announces. Missing one without good cause ends your TPS.
Keeping TPSWhat it gives, while it lasts
While you hold TPS you cannot be removed, you are authorized to work, and you cannot be detained because of your immigration status. You may travel abroad only with prior permission.
What it does not doEligibility
Four things must all be true.
Each designation notice sets its own dates. The statute then applies the same tests to everyone.
Nationality
A national of the designated country, proved with a passport, birth certificate, or national identity document.
Presence and residence dates
Continuous physical presence since the effective date of the most recent designation, and continuous residence since the date the notice sets. Brief, casual, and innocent trips do not break either one.
Timely registration
Filing during the registration period. Late initial registration is allowed only in listed situations, such as having been a nonimmigrant, a parolee, or the applicant in a pending case during the initial window, or being the spouse or child of someone eligible.
No disqualifying record
Any felony, or two or more misdemeanors, committed in the United States bars TPS, as do the persecutor and security bars. Many other grounds of inadmissibility can be waived; some criminal and security grounds cannot.
Your immigration status is not a reason to deny TPS. People who entered without inspection, overstayed, or hold another status can qualify.
Real protection, real limits
TPS solves today. It does not decide tomorrow.
Knowing both columns is how you avoid being surprised when a designation changes.
While your TPS is in effect
- Protection from removal
- Authorization to work, with a work permit on request
- No detention based on immigration status alone
- Travel abroad with prior permission from USCIS
- Lawful nonimmigrant status for green card and change-of-status purposes
Limits that matter for planning
- It is not a green card and has no path of its own to one
- It is not an admission if you entered without inspection
- It does not erase earlier periods without status
- It ends with the designation, without a right to appeal
- Its registration fee cannot be waived or reduced
Keeping TPS
Most lost TPS is lost on paperwork.
TPS ends for an individual when they were never eligible, leave without permission and break presence, or miss a re-registration. The last one is the most common and the most preventable.
Re-register in every period USCIS announces. If you do not, without good cause, USCIS withdraws your TPS. A late filing is accepted only if USCIS finds good cause.
- Watch the Federal Register. Each extension notice sets the re-registration window and explains how work permits are handled.
- Ask for the work permit too. Re-registration and the work permit are separate requests on separate forms.
- Travel only with permission. Get USCIS travel authorization before leaving, and advice before any trip.
- Arrests matter. A felony or a second misdemeanor conviction ends eligibility. Call before you plead to anything.
- Keep your address current. Notices go to the address USCIS has on file.
When a designation ends
A termination notice starts a countdown. Use it.
In 2025 and 2026, DHS announced terminations for several countries, including Haiti and Syria. In June 2026 the Supreme Court held that the TPS statute bars court review of non-constitutional challenges to those decisions.
- 01
The notice is published
DHS publishes the termination in the Federal Register with its reasons and an end date.
- 02
At least 60 days run
A termination takes effect no earlier than 60 days after the notice, or the end of the last extension if that is later. DHS can set a longer wind-down.
- 03
Review every other option
This is the window to check family petitions, asylum, cancellation of removal, U visas, VAWA, and any lawful entry or authorized trip in your history.
- 04
File what fits before the end date
A pending application can carry its own protections. Some options, like asylum, have deadlines that TPS only pauses for a reasonable period.
- 05
TPS ends automatically
On the effective date, TPS ends without further notice or appeal. Anyone without another status or pending case is then exposed to removal.
Beyond TPS
Many TPS holders have another option they have never been told about.
The answer usually sits in the details: how you last entered, who in your family is a citizen or resident, what happened at home, and how long you have been here.
A green card through family
TPS counts as lawful status for adjusting status, but you still need an admission or parole. A visa entry qualifies, and under current USCIS policy so does a return from authorized TPS travel.
Adjustment of statusAsylum
The one-year asylum deadline can be excused for someone who maintained TPS, if the application is filed within a reasonable period after TPS ends.
AsylumDefense in immigration court
If a case is filed, long residence and family ties can support cancellation of removal, and a judge can decide TPS eligibility again from the start.
Cancellation of removalCrime victims and survivors of family abuse should also ask about U visas and VAWA.
Private two-minute guide
Where should a TPS review start?
Answer three general questions. The guide suggests where a first review should start; it does not decide eligibility or send your answers to the firm.
Sources
Check your country's current status here.
Dates in this area change by notice. These are the places that publish them, plus our deeper guides.
TPS questions
Short answers for TPS holders
Your country's notice and your history may change these answers.
Can TPS lead to a green card?
Not by itself. TPS counts as lawful nonimmigrant status for adjustment, but the green card still requires an admission or parole. Someone who entered with a visa, or who returned from authorized TPS travel, may be able to adjust through a family petition. Someone who entered without inspection generally needs another route.
What happens when my country's TPS ends?
TPS ends automatically on the effective date, without a right to appeal. The termination cannot take effect earlier than 60 days after the notice, or the end of the last extension if later. After that, anyone without another status or a pending case is exposed to removal.
Can a court stop a termination?
Rarely, now. In June 2026 the Supreme Court held that the TPS statute bars courts from reviewing non-constitutional challenges to a designation, extension, or termination, and found the equal protection challenge to the Haiti termination unlikely to succeed. Plan as if the end date will hold.
What happens if I miss re-registration?
USCIS withdraws TPS if you fail to re-register without good cause. It may accept a late filing for good cause, so if you missed a period, gather proof of why and act quickly.
Can I travel with TPS?
Only with USCIS permission obtained before you leave. Under current policy, a TPS holder returning on that permission is inspected and admitted, which can matter later for a green card. Since August 2026 even an authorized trip can carry unlawful-presence risk for people with past time out of status, so get advice before booking.
Does a criminal record affect TPS?
Yes. A felony conviction, or two or more misdemeanor convictions, for offenses committed in the United States bars TPS. Some criminal and drug grounds of inadmissibility also cannot be waived. Talk to an immigration lawyer before pleading guilty to anything.
Can I apply for asylum if I have TPS?
Yes. Maintaining TPS can excuse the one-year filing deadline, but only if you file within a reasonable period after TPS ends. That is why the asylum question should be reviewed while TPS is still in effect.
What does TPS cost?
USCIS sets the filing fees, and they change. The TPS registration fee cannot be waived or reduced by law; see our fee guide. Our own fee is flat, quoted in writing after a review, and payment plans are available.
Can ICE detain me while I have TPS?
The statute says a TPS holder may not be detained on the basis of immigration status. That protection does not cover criminal matters, and it ends if TPS ends. Carry proof of your TPS and work permit.
TPS representation at a glance
- Who we represent
- TPS applicants and holders in Allentown and across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. TPS is filed with USCIS, so people elsewhere in the United States can work with us too.
- Languages
- English and Spanish.
- Main forms
- Form I-821 (TPS), Form I-765 (work permit), Form I-131 (travel).
- Government fees
- Set by USCIS and subject to change; the registration fee cannot be waived. See the fee guide.
- Country status
- Check the USCIS TPS page and the Federal Register; we confirm your country's notice before filing.
- Our fees
- Flat fee quoted in writing after review; payment plans available.
- Office
- 609 W. Hamilton Street, No. 102, Allentown, PA 18101 · (484) 763-4984
Information reviewed against official sources, including INA § 244, 8 C.F.R. part 244, 8 C.F.R. § 208.4, and the USCIS Policy Manual, on October 2, 2026. This page provides general information, not legal advice; it does not state any country's current designation, predict a decision, or create an attorney-client relationship. Designations, dates, fees, and policies change.
Reviewed and updated
Country · Dates · History
Bring your TPS papers. We will tell you what else your history supports.
A first review can start with your last approval notice, work permit, and passport. Tell us your country, how you last entered, and whether you have a court date.
English and Spanish · Allentown · Pennsylvania · New Jersey · New York · Representation where permitted