Re-Registration for Yemeni Nationals on TPS Opens

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemeni nationals have been extended for 18 months, from March 4, 2020 to September 3, 2021. Current Beneficiaries will have until May 1, 2020 to request the extension and maintain their status through September 3, 2021. Employment authorization documents with an expiration date of March 3, 2020 or September 3, 2018 (where an extension from the last re-registration period remains pending) will automatically be extended through August 30, 2020.

In an acknowledgement that Yemen continues to be rattled by conflict, this decision comes after announcements to terminate TPS for Nepal, Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Sudan nationals, ending protected status for more than 425,000 people and leaving less than 80,000 people in the program. TPS is granted to certain groups of people in the wake of natural disasters, wars, outbreaks of disease, and other catastrophes that would make it difficult for them to return safely to their home countries. Government officials periodically review the program to decide whether to extend it, and most groups have received regular extensions in the past.

This means the 1250 or so Yemen nationals who came to the United States under TPS when President Obama designated the country for protection due to its horrifying civil war in 2015 can legally stay and work in the country for another 18 months without facing deportation. To be eligible for an extension of TPS under Yemen’s current designation, individuals must have continuously resided in the United States since January 4, 2017 and been continuously physically present in the United States since March 4, 2017, among other requirements. To learn more about TPS, please click here.