TPS For South Sudan Extended For 18 Months; EADs Automatically Extended Through May 1, 2021

BY N24 Staff Writer, LOS ANGELES:- The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf has decided to extend the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for South Sudan for 18 months, through May 2, 2022.

According to a USCIS statement, the current beneficiaries who want to maintain their status must re-register November 2, 2020, through January 4, 2021.

Given the time frames for processing TPS re-registration applications, USCIS has automatically extended the validity of certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued under the TPS designation for South Sudan through May 1, 2021.

The USCIS has also called to complete or update the form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for TPS South Sudan beneficiaries who present an EAD with a Category Code of A12 or C19 and a Card Expires date of Nov. 2, 2020, enter May 1, 2021, as the new expiration date of the automatically extended EAD on Form I-9.

The beneficiaries will have to then reverify these employees before they start work on May 2, 2021.

Earlier, the USCIS announced that the current beneficiaries of TPS under South Sudan’s designation who want to maintain their status through May 2, 2022, must re-register for TPS from November 2, 2020 to January 4, 2021.

According to a USCIS statement, the re-registration procedures, including how to renew employment authorization documents (EADs), have been published in the Federal Register and are available at uscis.gov/tps.

“All applicants who wish to re-register for TPS must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status,” said the USCIS. “Applicants may also request an EAD by submitting Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, when they file Form I-821, or separately at a later date. Like all USCIS forms, both forms are free for download from the USCIS website at uscis.gov/forms.”

The USCIS will issue new EADs with a May 2, 2022, expiration date to eligible beneficiaries under South Sudan’s TPS designation who timely re-register and apply for an EAD.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognizes that not all re-registrants will receive new EADs before their current EADs expire on Nov. 2, 2020. Accordingly, USCIS is automatically extending through May 1, 2021, the validity of those EADs with a marked expiration date of Nov. 2, 2020.

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf decided that the statutory conditions supporting South Sudan’s TPS designation on the basis of ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions continue to exist and that the designation should be extended for 18 months.

“Acting Secretary Wolf made his decision after reviewing country conditions and consulting with appropriate U.S. government agencies. As a result, South Sudan’s TPS designation is extended through May 2, 2022,” the USCIS further said.

As of today, there are around 400,000 TPS beneficiaries in the US from 10 countries that includes: Nepal, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.

As for Nepal, around 9,000 documented and undocumented Nepalese received the TPS benefits in 2015, following a disastrous 7.8 magnitude earthquake in April, 2015.

Among the 9,000 Nepalese receiving the TPS benefits, almost 7,500 have either returned to their old status or changed their status, while 1500 are still under the TPS. The TPS benefits given to Nepalese in the US is coming to an end on January 4, 2021, if it is not extended beyond that date.