USCIS Issues Guidance to Employers on Documentation of Work Authorization for TPS Beneficiaries

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued guidance on the documentation employers may accept and that temporary protected status (TPS) beneficiaries may present as evidence of employment eligibility.

The guidance notes that the expiration date on the card is usually the end of the TPS period for which the bearer last registered. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extends a specific TPS country designation, it sometimes issues a Federal Register notice containing a temporary blanket automatic extension of expiring employment authorization documents (EADs) for TPS beneficiaries from that country to allow time for USCIS to issue new EADs with updated validity dates. The USCIS Web site and the Federal Register notice will describe this EAD automatic extension and will note the date when the auto-extension ends. The extension is typically for six months, but the time period may vary.

If an employee presents a TPS-related EAD that is expired for completion of the Form I-9 employment authorization verification process, the employer must accept it if it remains unexpired based on an auto-extension of the EAD by DHS as announced in a notice published in the Federal Register. The card must reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee presenting it to be acceptable.

The guidance includes an example of a valid TPS-related EAD and additional detailed instructions. It is available at their website.