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The secretary of Homeland Security has published
separate notices in the Federal Register extending the designations of
Somalia, Liberia, Burundi, and Sudan as countries whose nationals and
former residents currently in the United States qualify for temporary
protected status (TPS). And in the notices regarding Burundi and Sudan,
the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) says that reregistrants who do not
receive their new employment authorization documents (EADs) before their
current EADs expire on Nov. 2, 2005, will receive stickers that will be
placed on their EADs to extend the cards' validity through Feb. 2006.
The TPS program for people from Somalia, which
expired on Sept. 17, 2005, has been extended to Sept. 17, 2006. The
60-day reregistration period for Somalian TPS began July 29, 2005, and
was in effect until Sept. 27, 2005. The TPS program for people from
Liberia, which expired on Oct. 1, 2005, has been extended to Oct. 1,
2006. The 60-day reregistration period for Liberian TPS began Aug. 16,
2005, and will remain in effect until Oct. 14, 2005. The TPS program
for people from Burundi, which will expire on Nov. 2, 2005, is now
extended to Nov. 2, 2006. The 60-day reregistration period for
Burundian TPS began Sept. 2, 2005, and will remain in effect until Nov.
1, 2005. Finally, the program for people from Sudan, which also will
expire on Nov. 2, 2005, is now extended 18 months, until May 2, 2007.
The 60-day reregistration period for Sudanese TPS is identical to that
for Burundian TPS..
The attorney general first designated Somalia
for TPS in Sept. 1991 because of ongoing armed conflict there.
Subsequently, the designation was extended annually, and in Sept. 2001
the attorney general redesignated the country for TPS, which allowed
persons from Somalia who arrived in the U.S. after Sept. 1991 to apply
for TPS.
The attorney general designated Liberia for
TPS in Oct. 2002, also because of ongoing armed conflict. The secretary
of Homeland Security extended that designation in 2003; then, in a
Federal Register notice published on Aug. 25, 2004, the secretary
simultaneously terminated the existing TPS program for Liberia and
redesignated Liberia for TPS, explaining that while the civil war in
Liberia that prompted the initial designation had ended, "the damage
caused by the civil war has led to extraordinary and temporary
conditions in Liberia that prevent the safe return" of Liberians to
their country.
Ongoing armed conflict in Burundi was also the
basis for the attorney general first designating that country for TPS in
Nov. 1997. Subsequently, attorneys general and secretarys of Homeland
Security have repeatedly extended the program for Burundi, and once
along the way -- in Nov. 1999 -- Burundi was redesignated as a country
whose nationals and former residents are eligible for TPS.
Sudan, too, was first designated for TPS in
Nov. 1997 because of ongoing armed conflict there. The program for
Sudanese nationals and former residents of Sudan has been repeatedly
extended by attorneys general and DHS secretaries; and Sudan twice has
been redesignated for TPS, once in Nov. 1999 and again in Oct. 2004,
according to the Federal Register.
To register for the current program
extensions, nationals of Somalia, Liberia, Burundi, and Sudan (and
individuals of no nationality who last habitually resided in those
countries) previously granted TPS must apply during the 60-day
registration period for the program that applies to them. They need
only file the following: (1) Form I‑821, Application for Temporary
Protected Status (without the filing fee), (2) Form I‑765, Application
for Employment Authorization, and (3) a "biometric services fee" of $70
if the person filing for reregistration is age 14 or older or if he or
she is under age 14 and applying for an employment authorization
document.
Applicants who seek work authorization under
the extension must submit the $175 filing fee or a fee waiver request
with the Form I‑765; those who do not need work authorization still must
submit Form I-765, but without the fee. Under no circumstances will the
biometric services fee be waived. Formerly, applicants for TPS
registration or reregistration were required to submit photographs with
their application, but this requirement has been eliminated, since
applicants will now be required to be photographed and fingerprinted at
an "application support center" (the notice for Somalia refers to this
as "collection of biometrics").
According to the Federal Register, applicants
for the programs that benefit people from Burundi or Sudan who have not
received their new EADs by the time their current cards expire on Nov. 2
will have a sticker placed on their EADs when they appear at an
application support center to have their photos and fingerprints taken.
The sticker will extend the validity of their EADs through Feb. 2006.
Applicants must send their applications to the
following address (note that applicants for the Somalian TPS
reregistration must write "Attn: TPS Somalia" in the second line,
applicants for the Liberian TPS reregistration must write "Attn: TPS
Liberia" in the second line, applicants for the Burundian TPS
reregistration must write "Attn: TPS Burundi" in the second line, while
applicants for the Sudanese TPS reregistration must write "Attn: TPS
Sudan" in the second line):
U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services
Attn: TPS [appropriate country name]
P.O. Box 87583
Chicago, IL 60680-0583
Or, for non-U.S. Postal
Service deliveries:
U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services
Attn: TPS [appropriate country name]
427 S. LaSalle, 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60605
Late initial
registration is also available under the extension for each program.
Applicants for late initial registration must send their applications to
the appropriate address listed above. In order to apply, an applicant
must:
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be a national of Somalia, Liberia, Burundi,
or Sudan (or a person with no nationality who last habitually
resided in one of those countries);
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have continuously resided in the U.S. since
Sept. 4, 2001 (if from Somalia), or since Oct. 1, 2002 (if from
Liberia), or since Nov. 9, 1999 (if from Burundi), or since Oct. 7,
2004 (if from Sudan);
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have been "continuously physically present"
in the U.S. since Sept. 4, 2001 (if from Somalia), or since Aug. 25,
2004 (if from Liberia), or since Nov. 9, 1999 (if from Burundi), or
since Oct. 7, 2004 (if from Sudan); and
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be admissible as an immigrant, except as
otherwise provided under Immigration and Nationality Act sec.
244(c)(2)(A), and not ineligible under INA sec. 244(c)(2)(B).
Each applicant for late initial registration
under the program for Somalia must also be able to show that during the
registration period for the initial designation (from Sept. 16, 1991, to
Sept. 16, 1992) or during the registration period for the redesignation
(Sept. 4, 2001, to Sept. 17, 2002), he or she:
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was a nonimmigrant or had been granted
voluntary departure status or any relief from removal;
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had an application for change of status,
adjustment of status, asylum, voluntary departure, or any relief
from removal pending or subject to further review or appeal;
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was a parolee or had a request for reparole
pending; or
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was the spouse or child of an individual
currently eligible to be a TPS registrant.
Similarly, each applicant for late initial
registration under the program for Liberia must be able to demonstrate
that he or she is eligible under the above-listed four general criteria,
but these things must have been true of the applicant during the period
when it was possible to register for TPS under the "redesignation" of
Liberia for TPS -- from Aug. 25, 2004, to Feb. 21, 2005.
Each applicant for late initial registration
under the program for Burundi must be able to demonstrate that he or she
is eligible under the above four criteria, but they must have been true
of the applicant during the registration period for the initial
designation (from Nov. 4, 1997, to Nov. 3, 1998) or during the
registration period for the redesignation (from Nov. 9, 1999, to Nov. 2,
2000).
Finally, each applicant for late initial
registration under the program for Sudan must be able to demonstrate
that he or she is eligible under the above four criteria, but they must
have been true of the applicant during the registration period for the
initial designation (from Nov. 4, 1997, to Nov. 3, 1998), or during the
registration period for the first redesignation (from Nov. 9, 1999, to
Nov. 2, 2000), or during the registration period for the second
redesignation (from Oct. 7, 2004, to Apr. 5, 2005).
70 FR
43895-99 (July 29, 2005) (Somalia);
70 FR 48176-79 (Aug. 16, 2005), 50392-93 (Aug. 26, 2005) (Liberia);
70 FR 52425-29 (Sept. 2, 2005) (Burundi);
70 FR 52429-33 (Sept. 2, 2005) (Sudan).
--By
Richard Irwin, IRU editor
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