Syrian refugee and her child at a volunteer’s camp. – Kos, Greece – October 10, 2015 (Shutterstock)
WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security today published a Federal Register notice (FRN) extending and re-designating Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, effective March 31, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022. The extension and re-designation were announced on January 29 and were based upon ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Syria that prevent safe return.
The extension allows approximately 6,700 current beneficiaries to re-register and retain TPS through Sept. 30, 2022, so long as they otherwise continue to meet the TPS eligibility requirements. The re-designation of Syria allows an estimated 1,800 additional individuals who have been continuously residing in the United States since March 19, 2021, and continuously physically present in the United States since March 31, 2021, to file initial applications to obtain TPS, if they are otherwise eligible.
Current beneficiaries under Syria’s TPS designation will be eligible to re-register for an extension of their status and have employment authorization through Sept. 30, 2022. The 60-day re-registration period runs from March 19, 2021, through May 18, 2021.
USCIS is automatically extending the validity of employment authorization documents (EADs) previously issued under the TPS designation of Syria for 180 days, through Sept. 27, 2021. USCIS will issue new EADs with a Sept. 30, 2022, expiration date to eligible Syrian TPS beneficiaries who timely re-register and apply for EADs during the 60-day re-registration period.
Under the re-designation of Syria for TPS, Syrian nationals (or individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Syria) who entered the United States before March 19, 2021, and continuously resided here since that date and who currently do not have TPS may submit an application during the 180-day initial registration period that runs from March 19, 2021, through Sept. 15, 2021. They must also meet the requirement for continuous physical presence from March 31, 2021, and other TPS eligibility requirements. The FRN explains the procedures necessary to submit an initial registration application under the re-designation and apply for an EAD.