Fifteen countries currently appear on the USCIS list of Temporary Protected Status designations, but the list alone is misleading. The Department of Homeland Security has moved to terminate TPS for most of those countries since late 2024, and federal courts have blocked some terminations while others have taken effect. Whether the TPS countries on today’s roster are actually providing protection depends on a shifting mix of administrative actions, injunctions, and appellate rulings. The practical picture breaks into three groups: designations that are stably in force, designations that have been terminated but are held in place by court order, and designations that have ended.
Countries With Active TPS Designations
Five countries have designations that were affirmatively extended and face no pending termination order as of mid-2026. These are the most stable listings:
- El Salvador. Extended for 18 months through September 9, 2026, based on ongoing conditions following decades of environmental disasters and civil instability.
- Lebanon. Designated for TPS and listed as active on the USCIS website.
- Sudan. Extended due to ongoing armed conflict and humanitarian crisis.
- Syria. Extended and redesignated due to the prolonged civil war and collapse of infrastructure.
- Ukraine. Extended in response to the continuing armed conflict with Russia.
Nationals of these countries who are already in the United States can remain and work legally through the designated period. Each country has its own registration windows, expiration dates, and eligibility cutoffs published in the Federal Register, so the specific rules vary even among the stable five.
Countries With Terminations Blocked by Courts
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem moved to terminate TPS for a large number of countries starting in late 2024 and continuing through 2025. Federal judges have intervened in several of those terminations, keeping benefits in place while litigation continues. As of early-to-mid 2026, five countries fall into this category:
- Haiti. Termination was scheduled for February 3, 2026. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stayed the termination on February 2, 2026. TPS benefits remain in effect under the court order.
- Somalia. Termination was scheduled for March 17, 2026. A judge in the District of Massachusetts stayed the termination on March 13, 2026.
- Ethiopia. Termination was set for February 13, 2026. A judge in the District of Massachusetts stayed the termination on January 30, 2026.
- South Sudan. Termination was set for January 5, 2026. A judge in the District of Massachusetts stayed the termination on December 30, 2025.
- Burma (Myanmar). Termination took effect January 26, 2026, but a judge in the Northern District of Illinois issued an order postponing the termination on January 23, 2026.
Protection continues for nationals of these countries only as long as the court orders hold. Any of these rulings could be reversed on appeal, and status can change quickly. Checking the USCIS TPS page regularly is essential if you rely on one of these designations.
Countries Where TPS Has Ended
Five countries have had their designations fully terminated, with court challenges either failing or, so far, not restoring the protection:
- Venezuela. The October 2023 designation was terminated. A district court set aside the termination, but the Supreme Court granted a stay of that ruling on October 3, 2025, allowing the termination to stand while the case continues.
- Honduras. Terminated effective September 8, 2025. A district court in Northern California vacated the termination on December 31, 2025, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that ruling on February 9, 2026, finding the government was likely to succeed on the merits.
- Nicaragua. Terminated September 8, 2025, briefly restored by the same Northern California district court, then stayed by the Ninth Circuit on February 9, 2026.
- Nepal. Terminated effective August 5, 2025, following a similar litigation trajectory.
- Yemen. Termination was ordered effective March 3, 2026.
Nationals of these countries who previously held TPS no longer have its protections unless a new court order intervenes. They are in the same position as any other person without lawful status and are potentially subject to removal proceedings.
How Countries Get On and Off the List
The Secretary of Homeland Security has authority to designate a country for TPS under three circumstances set out in federal law. The first is ongoing armed conflict that would put returning nationals in serious danger. The second is an environmental disaster, such as an earthquake, flood, drought, or epidemic, that has disrupted living conditions so severely that the country cannot handle the return of its nationals and has officially requested the designation. The third is a catchall for extraordinary temporary conditions preventing safe return, provided that allowing people to stay does not conflict with U.S. national interests.
Each designation lasts between 6 and 18 months. Before it expires, the Secretary must review country conditions and choose to extend, redesignate, or terminate. A redesignation resets the eligibility window and lets newer arrivals apply. A plain extension only covers people who were already registered. A termination ends the designation on a set effective date, with no statutory grace period built in.
This is the mechanism driving the volatility on the current list. Most of the designations that were terminated in 2025 and 2026 were reviewed at scheduled decision points; the terminations were then challenged, producing the injunctions and stays described above.
What the Roster Tells You About Your Situation
If you are a national of one of the five countries with stable, active designations, your protection runs to the current expiration date, and you will need to re-register in the window announced by USCIS when an extension is issued. If your country is in the court-blocked group, you have protection today, but the underlying termination has not gone away. An appellate reversal could end that protection with little notice.
If your country is in the terminated group, TPS itself is no longer available to you. The core point to understand, whichever group you fall into, is that TPS does not by itself create a path to a green card or any other permanent status. Holding TPS does not prevent you from pursuing other immigration benefits, though. You can apply for a change to nonimmigrant status, file for adjustment of status based on an approved immigrant petition, or apply for asylum or any other relief you qualify for.
Given the pace of terminations and court rulings across 2025 and 2026, anyone currently holding TPS should speak with an immigration attorney well before their country’s designation expires or a termination takes effect. Waiting until the effective date severely limits your options.
Recent Changes Every TPS Holder Should Know
Two changes made in 2025 affect every current and prospective TPS applicant, regardless of country. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), signed into law on July 4, 2025, raised the registration fee for Form I-821 from $50 to $500 and eliminated fee waivers for TPS applications filed with USCIS. Work permits issued to TPS holders are now capped at one year of validity, rather than being matched to the designation period as before.
The law also changed how Employment Authorization Documents are automatically extended. For renewal applications filed on or after July 22, 2025, a TPS-related EAD may be automatically extended for up to one year or the remaining duration of TPS, whichever is shorter. To qualify, your Form I-797C receipt notice must show a received date before your current EAD’s expiration date, and the category on your EAD must match the one on the receipt notice. You prove the extension to an employer by showing the expired EAD together with the I-797C receipt.
Where to Confirm the Current Status
Because court orders in these cases can be issued, stayed, or reversed within days, no static list is fully reliable for long. The USCIS TPS page is the authoritative source for the current status of each country’s designation, including re-registration windows and any court-ordered continuation of benefits. Check it directly before making any decision that depends on your protected status, and check it again close to any expiration or termination date on your country’s timeline.