Temporary Protected Status for Burma is in a strange middle state. The Department of Homeland Security terminated the designation effective January 26, 2026, but three days before that date a federal court postponed the termination, and current beneficiaries keep their status and work authorization while the litigation plays out.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Update on Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Burma If you hold TPS under the Burma designation, your protections are real, but they’re now tied to a court order rather than a standing DHS designation. That distinction shapes every decision you make from here.
Where Things Stand Right Now
On November 25, 2025, DHS published a Federal Register notice terminating Burma’s TPS designation, with the termination scheduled to take effect on January 26, 2026, after the statutory 60-day transition period.2Federal Register. Termination of the Designation of Burma (Myanmar) for Temporary Protected Status DHS said Burma no longer met the statutory conditions that support a TPS designation.
On January 23, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued an order in Aung DOE et al. v. Noem et al. (No. 25-cv-15483) postponing the termination. Under that order, current Burma TPS beneficiaries keep their protected status and their employment authorization while the court order remains in effect. USCIS has stated plainly that “the status of the individual’s TPS and employment authorization is dependent on developments in the litigation.”1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Update on Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Burma
There is no fixed end date. The protection lasts as long as the court order lasts, and USCIS has been telling beneficiaries and employers to check the TPS Burma page for updates. New initial applications are not being accepted while the designation sits in this posture.
Your Work Authorization and What Your Employer Needs to Know
Employment Authorization Documents issued under Burma’s TPS designation with category code A12 or C19 remain valid under the court order.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Update on Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Burma That covers EADs with printed expiration dates of November 25, 2025, May 25, 2024, or November 25, 2022. You do not need a replacement card to keep working.
For Form I-9 purposes, USCIS has told employers to enter “July 1, 2026” as the expiration date in Section 2 and to note in the additional information box that the EAD is auto-extended by the court order in Aung DOE et al. v. Noem et al.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Update on Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Burma That July 1, 2026 date is an administrative placeholder, not a hard expiration of your TPS. USCIS may update it if the court order stays in effect beyond that date.
If your employer is confused or hesitant, point them to the USCIS TPS Burma page and to the I-9 Central update. Those pages are where USCIS puts the current auto-extension instructions, and they are updated as the litigation develops.
Traveling Outside the United States
Leaving the country on TPS is not automatic, and the current legal posture makes it riskier than usual. To travel and return, you have to file Form I-131 and receive an approved travel document before you go.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Travel Documents Approved TPS holders receive a Form I-512T. If a TPS application is still pending, USCIS issues a Form I-512L advance parole document instead.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records
Even with the right document, USCIS warns that a DHS officer at the port of entry makes a separate discretionary decision about whether to admit you back into TPS. The travel document authorizes the trip; inspection is its own hurdle. Leaving without proper authorization can be treated as abandoning your status. And with the underlying designation terminated but postponed by a court order, any trip abroad exposes you to the possibility that the legal situation changes while you’re gone.
What to Do While the Litigation Is Pending
Check the USCIS TPS Burma page on a regular basis. The court order controls the timeline now, so news that would matter to you can appear between one week and the next. USCIS updates that page and the I-9 Central page as things change.
If you move, file Form AR-11 within 10 days to update your address with USCIS. This is a legal requirement for noncitizens generally, and it’s the mechanism USCIS uses to reach you if anything changes with the Burma designation or with your individual case. A missed notice is often the difference between a solvable problem and a serious one.
Keep your records intact. Hold on to every receipt notice, every EAD (expired or current), and any evidence of your continuous residence and physical presence in the United States since the qualifying dates in the March 2024 redesignation. If a new registration window opens, or if you later apply for a different immigration benefit that asks about your TPS history, those documents become the proof you can’t reconstruct from memory. Rent receipts, utility bills, pay stubs, bank statements, medical and school records — the ordinary paperwork of daily life is what carries the most weight.
One more practical point. Because your protection depends on active litigation, it is worth reading anything USCIS publishes on the Burma designation carefully, and, if you have complicated circumstances, talking to an immigration attorney or a nonprofit legal services provider before making decisions that assume the current protections will still be there next month. The court order is doing real work for you right now. It is not the same as a standing designation, and planning as if it were is where people get hurt.