USA Green Card Immigration Blog

It has been recently announced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that an additional 180 days will be given to eligible Haitian nationals to apply for their Temporary Protected Status (TPS.) This additional six months is viewed as a response to the earthquake that struck Haiti in the beginning of this year. The new registration closes on January 18, 2011.

USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas said that USCIS has arrived at the conclusion that Haitian nationals need some more time to apply for TPS after hearing from the Haitian community leaders and advocates. By extending the registration period, USCIS lets more eligible Haitian nationals to safely stay back in the United States until the catastrophe settles in Haiti.

Haitian nationals who secure a Temporary Protected Status can remain in the United States and can also get authorized to work there during the course of the program. USCIS has taken up many initiatives to let the Haitians know about the benefits and information about the registration process from the time the program was initiated. USCIS is still in the process of encouraging eligible Haitian nationals to file for TPS before the deadline. Applicants who are unable to pay the application fee can request for fee waivers.

During interaction with the public, USCIS could gather several reasons for eligible individual’s failure to apply for their Temporary Protected Status. Few individuals faced difficulty in gathering documents to be submitted for the TPS registration due to the earthquake. Few others could not afford to pay the application fees.

Commencing January 21, 2010, TPS for Haitian nationals was allotted for an 18-month period by Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary. Haitian nationals who stayed in the United States since January 12, 2010 are only eligible for this designation. Those Haitians who stepped into the United States after Jan. 12, 2010 cannot benefit from this program.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 13th, 2010 at 3:02 am and is filed under immigration law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.