Ukrainian TPS: Eligibility, Applying, and What Comes Next

Ukrainian TPS is the Temporary Protected Status designation that shields eligible Ukrainian nationals already in the United States from deportation and lets them work legally. The current designation runs through October 19, 2026, following an 18-month extension published in the Federal Register in January 2025.¹ It is a temporary humanitarian protection tied to the armed conflict in Ukraine. It is not a green card and does not by itself lead to permanent residency.

How Long the Current Designation Lasts

The Department of Homeland Security extended Ukraine’s TPS designation for 18 months starting April 20, 2025, with an expiration date of October 19, 2026.² Before that date, the Secretary of Homeland Security must review conditions in Ukraine and decide whether to extend, redesignate, or terminate the program. That review has to happen at least 60 days before the designation expires.¹ An extension is possible if conditions remain dangerous. Termination is possible if the Secretary concludes it is safe to return.

Who Qualifies

You can apply if you are a Ukrainian national, or a stateless person who last habitually lived in Ukraine, and you meet two date-based requirements.³ You must have been continuously residing in the United States since no later than August 16, 2023, and you must have been physically present in the United States on October 20, 2023.²

These are two separate tests. Continuous residence means you have kept your home in the United States since the residence date without abandoning it. Continuous physical presence means you were actually inside the country on the specified date. Short trips abroad that were brief, casual, and innocent do not automatically break either requirement, as long as you did not intend to abandon your U.S. residence.³ If you cannot prove both dates, USCIS will deny the application.

No Family Coverage

There is no derivative or dependent TPS. Your spouse, children, and parents cannot receive status through your approval. Each family member who wants TPS must file a separate application and independently meet every eligibility requirement.⁴ This surprises many families, particularly when a spouse or older child arrived on a different date and cannot meet the physical presence cutoff.

Initial Applicants and Re-Registration

If you already hold Ukrainian TPS from a prior grant, you needed to re-register during the 60-day window that ran from January 17, 2025, through March 18, 2025.² If you missed it, you may still be able to file with a good-cause explanation for the late submission. If you have never applied but meet the two dates, you can still file an initial application and go through the full eligibility review.

What Disqualifies You

Certain criminal and security issues permanently bar you from TPS. Federal law disqualifies anyone convicted of a felony committed in the United States, and anyone convicted of two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States.³ There is no waiver. A single felony means automatic denial.

The persecutor bar also applies. If you participated in persecuting anyone based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion, you are ineligible.⁵ Terrorism-related and other security-based inadmissibility grounds also disqualify applicants. USCIS runs background checks and collects fingerprints to screen for these issues.

How to Apply

The core application is Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status. If you also want a work permit, you file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, at the same time.⁶ Both forms are free to download from USCIS, and both can be filed online through a USCIS account or mailed to the designated lockbox.⁴

Proving Identity and Nationality

A valid Ukrainian passport is the strongest evidence of nationality. If you do not have one, an official birth certificate, national identity card, or Ukrainian school records can serve as secondary proof.² Many Ukrainians who fled the conflict arrived without original documents, and USCIS accepts secondary evidence when you explain why the primary documents are unavailable.

Proving You Were Here on the Right Dates

This is where applications succeed or fail. You need a paper trail showing continuous U.S. residence since August 2023. Strong evidence includes lease agreements, utility bills in your name, pay stubs, bank statements, and tax returns.² Hospital or medical records, school enrollment documents, and letters from religious or community organizations can fill gaps. Put everything in chronological order so the reviewing officer can follow your timeline without hunting through the file.

Every name, date of birth, and address on your forms should match your supporting documents exactly. Inconsistencies between the I-821 and the evidence you submit are among the most common reasons USCIS issues a Request for Evidence, which slows your case considerably.

Fees and Fee Waivers

USCIS overhauled its fee schedule in 2024 and made further inflation adjustments effective January 1, 2026.⁶ The separate biometrics fee for Form I-821 dropped to $30 under the updated rules, and the base application fee also changed.⁷ Check the current USCIS fee schedule before filing to confirm the exact amounts, since the January 2026 adjustment may have moved them again.

If you cannot afford the fees, file Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver. You will need to show either that your household income is too low to pay or that you receive a means-tested benefit like Medicaid or SNAP.⁸ The waiver can be submitted online with your application or mailed as a paper form.

After You File

Once USCIS accepts the application, you will receive a Form I-797C, Notice of Action, confirming that your case is under review and giving you a receipt number to track the case online.⁹ Keep this notice. It also serves as evidence of a pending TPS application, which can matter to employers and in encounters with immigration enforcement.

Most applicants are then scheduled for a biometrics appointment at a local USCIS Application Support Center for fingerprints and a photograph. Processing time from filing to decision can run several months to over a year depending on USCIS volume. If you move during the wait, you must notify USCIS within ten days. That is a federal legal requirement, not optional guidance.¹⁰ Missing a notice because USCIS mailed it to an old address can derail your case.

When approved, you receive a written approval notice and, if you filed Form I-765, your Employment Authorization Document by mail.

If You Already Have a Work Permit

If you already hold a Ukrainian TPS work permit with an expiration date of April 19, 2025, or October 19, 2023, the January 2025 Federal Register notice automatically extended it through April 19, 2026.² You do not need a new physical card to keep working. Employers can confirm the extension by checking the Federal Register notice.

If you filed a Form I-765 renewal during the re-registration window in early 2025, you may qualify for up to a 540-day automatic extension beyond your card’s printed expiration date while USCIS processes the renewal.¹¹ Once re-registration is approved and the fee is paid or waived, the replacement EAD will carry an expiration date of October 19, 2026.²

Traveling Outside the United States

Leaving the country without advance permission is one of the fastest ways to lose TPS. Before travel, file Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, and wait for approval.¹² If approved, USCIS issues a Form I-512T authorizing your trip and return. Without it, you may be unable to re-enter or could trigger unlawful-presence inadmissibility bars.

Even with a valid travel document, re-entry is not guaranteed. You remain subject to inspection at the port of entry, and the customs officer has discretion over your admission.¹³ USCIS also warns that traveling while a TPS application or re-registration is pending creates real risks. You could miss a request for evidence or have the application denied while you are outside the country.¹²

TPS and a Green Card

TPS by itself does not create a path to permanent residency. It is temporary and can end when conditions in Ukraine change. Holding TPS does not, however, block you from pursuing a green card through a separate route. If you have a qualifying family relationship or an employer willing to sponsor you, you can apply through the standard family-based or employment-based categories, provided you meet those independent eligibility requirements.

How you entered the U.S. matters. To adjust status inside the country, you generally need to have been “inspected and admitted” or “paroled” at a port of entry. Many Ukrainians arrived without formal inspection. Under current USCIS guidance, TPS holders who obtain a travel authorization (Form I-512T), travel abroad, and return through a port of entry are treated as “inspected and admitted” for adjustment-of-status purposes.¹² That can open a path that was previously closed. The stakes are high enough that anyone considering this route should work with an immigration attorney.

If TPS Ends

If the Secretary of Homeland Security terminates or declines to extend Ukraine’s designation, you would revert to whatever immigration status you held before receiving TPS. If you entered without authorization and have no other visa or pending application, you would become undocumented and subject to removal. The government typically provides a transition period of at least 60 days between a termination announcement and the effective end date.

The current designation runs through October 19, 2026, and the mandatory review must happen before that date.¹ TPS decisions are discretionary and not subject to judicial review, so tracking Federal Register notices and USCIS announcements is the only reliable way to know what comes next.

1
Federal Register. Extension of the Designation of Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Ukraine
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1254a – Temporary Protected Status
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Application for Temporary Protected Status
5
U.S. Department of Justice. 8 USC 1158 – Asylum
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 2024 Final Fee Rule
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1305 – Notices of Change of Address
11
Global Refuge. Temporary Protected Status Extension for Ukraine
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. Travel Documents