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Immigration

Re-Registration Period For Honduran TPS Beneficiaries Starts

People who are currently protected by the status, which will end in 2020, have until August 6 to submit their applications

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Photo courtesy of Center of Central American Resources, CRECEN
Supporters of the TPS for Honduras and other Latin American countries rallied in Houston on May 1, 2018.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Monday that Honduran nationals who are current beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and want to maintain their status through the effective termination date of January 5th 2020, must re-register between June 5th 2018 and August 6th 2018.

According to a news release distributed by USCIS, re-registration procedures –including how to renew employment authorization documents— have been published in the Federal Register and on uscis.gov/tps.

All applicants must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status.

Additionally, applicants may also request an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) by submitting a completed Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, at the time of filing Form I-821, or separately at a later date.

Both forms can be downloaded for free from the section on TPS at the USCIS website.

Employment authorization

The news release added that USCIS will issue new EADs with a January 5th 2020 expiration date.

However, because of the timeframes involved with processing TPS re-registration applications, USCIS acknowledges that not all re-registrants will receive new EADs before their current EADs expire.

Therefore, USCIS has automatically extended the expiration date on EADs issued under the TPS designation of Honduras for 180 days, through January 1st 2019. This extension includes individuals who have EADs with an expiration date of January 5th 2018 and who applied for a new EAD during the last re-registration period but have not yet received their new EADs.

Situation in Houston

According to data compiled by the Immigration Legal Resource Center, as of April 2017, there were approximately 6,000 TPS beneficiaries from Honduras living in Houston, The Woodlands and Sugar Land.

USCIS said in its news release that Hondurans with TPS “may wish to consult with qualified immigration attorneys or practitioners about their eligibility for another immigration status or benefit, or whether there is any other action they may want to take regarding their individual immigration circumstances.”

However, as Houston Public Media reported in May, the upcoming termination of TPS has some in the local Honduran community considering to stay in the United States as undocumented immigrants.