USCIS Extends TPS for Somalis

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Rand Beers has extended temporary protected status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Somalia for an additional 18 months, effective March 18, 2014, through September 17, 2015.

Current Somali beneficiaries seeking to extend their TPS status must re-register during a 60-day period that began on November 1, 2013, and runs through December 31, 2013. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) encourages beneficiaries to re-register as soon as possible. USCIS did not accept applications it received before November 1, 2013.

The 18-month extension also allows TPS re-registrants to apply for a new employment authorization document (EAD). Eligible Somali TPS beneficiaries who re-register during the re-registration period and request work authorization will receive a new EAD that expires on September 17, 2015.

To re-register, current TPS beneficiaries must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status. Re-registrants do not need to pay the I-821 application fee, but they must submit the biometric fee, or a fee-waiver request, if they are age 14 or older. All TPS re-registrants must also submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, but no I-765 application fee is required if the re-registrant does not want an EAD. TPS re-registrants requesting an EAD must submit the I-765 application fee, or a fee-waiver request.

Applicants may request that USCIS waive any or all fees based on inability to pay by filing Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, or by submitting a written request. Fee-waiver requests must be accompanied by supporting documentation. Failure to submit the required filing fees or a properly documented fee-waiver request will result in the rejection of the TPS application, USCIS noted.

Additional information on TPS for Somalia is available online at http://www.uscis.gov/tps. Further details on this extension of Somalia for TPS, including application requirements and procedures, are available in the Federal Register notice at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-11-01/pdf/2013-25969.pdf. A correction to the Federal Register notice amending the dates of the re-registration period was published at .