Temporary Protected Status, usually shortened to TPS, is a federal immigration program that lets nationals of certain countries live and work legally in the United States when it is not safe to send them home. Congress created it in the Immigration Act of 1990 and codified it at Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. A designation runs six to eighteen months at a time and can be extended, sometimes for years, but TPS is temporary by design and does not by itself lead to a green card or citizenship.
Why a Country Gets Designated
The Secretary of Homeland Security can designate a country, or part of one, under three circumstances written into the statute. The first is ongoing armed conflict that would pose a serious threat to the safety of returning nationals. The second is an environmental disaster such as an earthquake, flood, drought, or epidemic that has substantially disrupted living conditions, where the country temporarily cannot handle the return of its nationals and its government has formally requested the designation. The third is a catch-all for extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent safe return, as long as allowing nationals to stay is not contrary to U.S. national interests.
Before a designation expires, the Secretary must review conditions in the country. If things have not improved, the designation extends automatically for another 6, 12, or 18 months. The statute does not cap how many times this can repeat, which is why some countries have carried TPS designations for decades.
What TPS Actually Gives You
An approved TPS application does three concrete things. It protects you from removal for the duration of your country’s designation. It makes you eligible for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which is unrestricted work authorization. And it lets you apply for a Social Security number, because the Social Security Administration treats TPS holders as lawfully present. Your EAD, showing category A-12 for granted TPS or C-19 for prima facie eligibility, works as your proof of work authorization.
You request the work permit by filing Form I-765 alongside your TPS application, Form I-821. When a designation is extended and you re-register on time, USCIS may automatically extend your existing EAD while it processes the renewal. Under rules put in place after the July 2025 enactment of H.R. 1, that automatic extension is capped at one year or the remaining duration of TPS, whichever is shorter.
Who Qualifies
You qualify if you are a national of a designated country, or if you are stateless and last habitually resided in one. You also have to have been continuously physically present in the United States since the effective date in the Federal Register notice for your country, and continuously residing here since the date that notice specifies. The two dates are usually different, and they change country by country and designation by designation, so the Federal Register notice for your specific country controls.
Short trips outside the country that were brief, casual, and innocent do not break continuous physical presence or continuous residence. Trips forced by an emergency or by extraordinary circumstances beyond your control also do not break them.
Who Is Barred
Even a qualifying national can be shut out by criminal or security bars. A conviction for any felony committed in the United States makes you ineligible, and so do two or more misdemeanor convictions here, no matter how minor. You are also barred if you fall under the mandatory asylum bars at 8 U.S.C. ยง 1158(b)(2)(A), which cover persecutors of others, national security concerns, and terrorist activity.
These bars generally cannot be waived. Narrow exceptions exist for possession of a small amount of marijuana and one related to prostitution, but for most applicants who hit a criminal bar, the only real option is post-conviction relief to eliminate the conviction before applying.
What TPS Does Not Give You
TPS is not a green card, and it is not a path to one. The Supreme Court settled the point in its 2021 decision in Sanchez v. Mayorkas, holding that TPS gives foreign nationals a temporary legal status but does not count as a lawful “admission” for purposes of adjusting to permanent resident status. If you entered the United States without inspection, TPS alone does not cure that problem when you later try to get a green card.
TPS also does not block other paths. If you are the immediate relative of a U.S. citizen or qualify for an employment-based visa, you can pursue those while holding TPS. There is one route worth knowing about: if you travel abroad with an approved Form I-131 travel authorization and return through a port of entry while your TPS is valid, USCIS treats that return as a lawful admission. For someone who originally entered without inspection, an authorized trip and return can supply the admission that Sanchez said TPS alone cannot.
Keeping Your Status
TPS is not a one-time approval. Every time your country’s designation is extended, USCIS opens a re-registration window, and you have to file a new Form I-821 during that window to maintain status. There is no filing fee for the re-registration itself. If you want a renewed work permit, you file a new I-765 at the same time.
Missing the re-registration deadline is one of the most common ways people lose TPS. USCIS can accept a late filing if you show “good cause” with a written explanation and supporting evidence, but the safer path is to file on time. Leaving the country without an approved travel document is the other common way to lose it. Before any trip abroad, you file Form I-131 and wait for USCIS to issue the travel authorization; departing without it puts your TPS at risk and can foreclose future green card options.
When a Designation Ends
When the Secretary determines that conditions in a country have improved enough, the designation is terminated. You then revert to whatever immigration status you had before TPS, or to any other lawful status you obtained while on TPS if it is still valid. If you had no lawful status before, you have none after.
The regulations give a 60-day transition period after the termination notice publishes in the Federal Register. During those 60 days you keep TPS benefits, including work authorization. After that, TPS ends automatically with no further notice and no right to appeal. The Secretary can grant a longer orderly transition and has sometimes extended EAD validity to prevent sudden disruption.
Several designations were terminated in 2025, including Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. Some terminations have been challenged in federal court, with judges issuing stays or temporary restraining orders that keep benefits in place during the litigation. Because the practical status of a country’s designation can differ from the formal one while a court order is in effect, the USCIS TPS page for your specific country is the place to check before you rely on anything.