TPS for Salvadorans: Extension, Filing, and Re-Registration

TPS for Salvadorans is currently extended through September 9, 2026, which means eligible Salvadoran nationals already in the program can continue to live and work legally in the United States during that window.¹ The rules on who qualifies, what it costs, and how to keep status active have some traps worth knowing before you file anything.

The Current Extension Window

The most recent extension runs 18 months, from March 10, 2025 through September 9, 2026.¹ Existing TPS holders had a 60-day re-registration window that ran from January 17, 2025 through March 18, 2025. That window has closed. If you missed it, your TPS and work authorization can lapse even though the country designation itself is still active.

Whether TPS for El Salvador continues past September 2026 depends on a review before the next expiration. Designations are decided by the Secretary of Homeland Security, so continuation is never guaranteed.

Who Qualifies

Two date-based residency requirements have anchored this program since 2001 and have never changed. You must show continuous residence in the United States since February 13, 2001, and continuous physical presence since March 9, 2001.² Anyone applying now is documenting more than 25 years of life in the country.

Short trips abroad don’t automatically break either requirement. Federal law allows “brief, casual, and innocent” absences, and continuous residence also permits brief trips required by emergencies or circumstances beyond your control.³ USCIS treats a two-week family visit very differently from a six-month stay.

Late Initial Filing

The original registration period is long closed, but USCIS will still accept a late initial application in narrow situations. You may qualify if, during any initial or re-designation registration period, you held nonimmigrant status, had a pending asylum or adjustment application, were a parolee, or were the spouse or child of someone eligible for TPS.⁴ There is no time limit for someone who was the child of an eligible TPS holder during an initial registration period, even if that person is now over 21 or married. These carve-outs are essentially the only way a new person can enter the program today.

Family Members File Separately

TPS is an individual benefit. Your spouse and children do not get status through you. Each family member has to file their own application, pay their own fees, and independently meet every requirement, including the 2001 residency dates.

What Disqualifies You

Meeting the dates is not enough if certain criminal or security bars apply. You are ineligible if you have been convicted of any felony, or of two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States.³ The misdemeanor bar does not care how minor the offenses were. Two shoplifting convictions are enough.

The broader inadmissibility grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act also apply, covering certain criminal convictions, controlled substance violations, fraud, and security concerns.⁵ Persecutors of others and people with ties to terrorist organizations face an automatic bar. Possession of a small amount of marijuana is specifically waivable, meaning USCIS has discretion to overlook it.

Forms, Fees, and Filing

The core application is Form I-821.⁶ Most applicants also file Form I-765 to request an Employment Authorization Document, which is the work permit that lets you hold a job during the TPS period.⁷ You can submit these by mail to the USCIS Lockbox address for your location or file online.

Filing fees went up on January 1, 2026. Current amounts:⁸

Form I-821 (TPS application): $510
Form I-765 (initial TPS work permit): $560
Form I-765 (renewal or extension work permit): $280
Biometric services fee for Form I-821: $30⁹

If you cannot afford the fees, file Form I-912 to request a waiver. USCIS grants the waiver if you receive a means-tested government benefit, if your household income is at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or if you can show financial hardship. You only need to qualify under one basis.¹⁰

Plan on providing documentation in three areas: identity and Salvadoran nationality (passport or birth certificate with certified English translation), date of entry (I-94 or other immigration paperwork; affidavits and employment records if you entered without inspection), and continuous residence since 2001. That last one is usually the hardest. Rent receipts, utility bills, pay stubs, W-2s, tax returns, school records, medical records, and bank statements all help. Gaps don’t automatically mean denial, but they invite questions.

After you file, USCIS sends a Form I-797C receipt notice, then schedules a biometrics appointment for fingerprints and a background check. The receipt notice is not an approval. Expedited processing exists for severe financial loss or humanitarian emergencies, but USCIS grants it at its discretion, and needing a work permit by itself does not qualify.¹¹

Keeping Status Active: Re-Registration and Work Permits

TPS is not a one-time benefit. Every time the designation is extended, you must re-register during the specified window to keep your status. Missing that deadline is one of the most common ways people lose TPS, and it costs you both protected status and work authorization at the same time.

To bridge the gap between re-registration and receiving a new EAD card, USCIS automatically extended existing work permits with category codes A-12 or C-19 through March 9, 2026.² Your card is valid through that date even if the printed expiration is earlier, so long as you re-registered. Use it with the Federal Register notice to complete Form I-9 for your employer.

A separate extension applies if you filed a Form I-765 renewal during the re-registration window: your existing EAD is automatically extended for up to 540 days from the card’s printed expiration date, but never past September 9, 2026.¹ Keep your I-797C receipt notice with your expired card. Employers are legally required to accept that combination.

Traveling Abroad Without Losing Status

Leaving the country without authorization terminates your TPS. Before any trip, file Form I-131 and wait for an approved travel document (Form I-512T).¹² The fee is $630 on paper or $580 online.¹³ A pending application is not the same as an approved one. Do not travel until it’s approved.

Even with authorization, there are risks. USCIS warns you could miss requests for evidence or other notices while you’re gone, and DHS decides at its discretion whether to readmit you into TPS on return. There is one important upside: since July 2022, TPS holders who travel with an I-512T and return are treated as “inspected and admitted” for immigration purposes, which matters if you ever try to adjust to permanent resident status.

Does TPS Lead to a Green Card?

No. TPS is temporary and gives you no special priority in the immigration system.⁴ It doesn’t stop you from pursuing permanent residence through another route, such as an employer-sponsored or family-based petition, if you independently qualify.

The main obstacle for many long-time Salvadoran TPS holders is how they first entered. In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that a TPS recipient who entered without inspection cannot adjust to permanent resident status from inside the United States, even with an approved immigrant petition. Leaving for a consular interview abroad sounds like the fix, but departing after more than 180 days of unlawful presence triggers three- or ten-year bars to reentry.¹⁴ That trap catches many people.

The travel-and-return route noted above is a possible workaround. Because USCIS now treats TPS-authorized travel after July 2022 as a lawful admission, someone who traveled abroad with an I-512T and returned may be able to adjust status inside the country, assuming an approved immigrant petition and all other requirements are met. This is complicated law with severe downsides if handled wrong. A denied adjustment or a departure that triggers reentry bars can end your ability to live here at all. Talk to an experienced immigration attorney before making any move in this direction.

1
Federal Register. Extension of the Designation of El Salvador for Temporary Protected Status
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: El Salvador
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1254a – Temporary Protected Status
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Temporary Protected Status
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-765, Application for Employment Authorization
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Announces FY 2026 Inflation Increase for Certain Immigration-Related Fees
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 2024 Final Fee Rule
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expedite Requests
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility