Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Nicaragua
ALERT: The Department of Homeland Security is extending the re-registration periods for the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan.
The 18-month re-registration period under the TPS designation of:
- El Salvador now runs through March 9, 2025;
- Haiti now runs through Aug. 3, 2024;
- Honduras now runs through July 5, 2025;
- Nepal now runs through June 24, 2025;
- Nicaragua now runs through July 5, 2025; and
- Sudan now runs through April 19, 2025.
We will publish a Federal Register notice for this re-registration extension soon.
ALERT: On June 21, 2023, DHS published Federal Register notices (FRNs) announcing the rescission of the 2017 and 2018 terminations of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations of El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua effective June 9, 2023, and extend the TPS designations of:
- El Salvador for 18 months, from Sept. 10, 2023, through March 9, 2025 (60-day re-registration period from July 12, 2023, through Sept. 10, 2023);
- Honduras for 18 months, from Jan. 6, 2024, through July 5, 2025 (60-day re-registration period from Nov. 6, 2023, through Jan. 5, 2024);
- Nepal for 18 months, from Dec. 25, 2023, through June 24, 2025 (60-day re-registration period from Oct. 24, 2023, through Dec. 23, 2023); and
- Nicaragua for 18 months, from Jan. 6, 2024, through July 5, 2025 (60-day re-registration period from Nov. 6, 2023, through Jan. 5, 2024).
Existing TPS beneficiaries who wish to extend their status must re-register during the 60-day re-registration period for their country’s designation. Please do not re-register for TPS until the re-registration period for your country begins. USCIS cannot adjudicate your application before the effective date of the extension.
For additional information, please see the news release.
ALERT: On Nov. 10, 2022, DHS posted a Federal Register Notice announcing that beneficiaries under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua and the 2011 designation of Haiti and the 2013 designation of Sudan will retain their TPS while the preliminary injunction in Ramos v. Wolf and the stay of proceedings order in Bhattarai v. Nielsen remains in effect, provided they remain individually eligible for TPS.
On Nov. 10, 2022, DHS posted a Federal Register Notice announcing that beneficiaries under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua and the 2011 designation of Haiti and the 2013 designation of Sudan will retain their TPS while the preliminary injunction in Ramos v. Wolf and the stay of proceedings order in Bhattarai v. Nielsen remains in effect, provided they remain individually eligible for TPS. DHS also has automatically extended through June 30, 2024, the validity of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) and other TPS-related documentation for TPS beneficiaries affected by the injunction. Eligible TPS beneficiaries who would like an EAD with the extended validity date of June 30, 2024, must file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, with the appropriate filing fee (or obtain a fee waiver). You may request a fee waiver by completing Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, and submitting it with Form I-765.
On October 3, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California enjoined DHS from implementing and enforcing the decisions to terminate TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan pending further resolution of the case. However, a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit vacated that order in 2020. Plaintiffs filed a request for rehearing en banc and the court granted that request in February 2023 with oral argument scheduled for June 2023. See Ramos, et al. v. Nielsen, et al., 321 F. Supp. 3d 1083 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 3, 2018) (“Ramos”), vacated Ramos v. Wolf, 975 F.3d 872 (9th Cir. 2020), petition for en banc rehearing granted, 2023 WL 1880467 (9th Cir. Feb. 10, 2023
If necessary, DHS will continue to issue appropriate future notices to comply with court orders.
For additional information, please see the Nov. 2022 Federal Register notice, the Update on Ramos v. Nielsen webpage, and the Automatic Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Extension section below.
| TPS Continues Through: |
July 5, 2025 In addition, s long as preliminary injunction ordered by court in Ramos et al. v. Nielsen, 336 F.Supp.3d 1075(N.D. Cal. Oct. 3, 2018) remains in effect. |
|---|---|
| Re-registration Period |
Nov. 6, 2023, through July 5, 2025, for those applying for TPS under the designation announced in the June 21, 2023 FRN 88 FR 40294F. |
| Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Auto-Extended Through: | June 30, 2024, for current beneficiaries under the 1999 TPS designation for Nicaragua whose documents have been automatically extended by the November 2022 FRN. |
| Continuous Residence in U.S. Since: | Dec. 30, 1998 |
| Continuous Physical Presence in U.S. Since: | Jan. 5, 1999 |
| TPS Designation Date: | Jan. 5, 1999 |
| Federal Register Notice Citation: |
To maintain TPS, you must re-register during the 60-day re-registration periods that runs from Nov. 6 , 2023 through Jan. 5, 2024.
If you are applying for TPS Nicaragua, you may file Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, online. When filing an initial TPS application or re-registering for TPS, you can also request an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) by submitting a completed Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online with your Form I-821.
If you are filing a paper application for a replacement EAD for already granted TPS, send your TPS package to the appropriate address in the table below:
| If you send your paper applications via: | Then, mail your application to: |
|---|---|
|
U.S. Postal Service USPS: |
USCIS |
|
FedEx, UPS, or DHL deliveries: |
USCIS Attn: TPS Nicaragua (Box 4413) 131 S. Dearborn St., 3rd Floor Chicago, IL 60603-5517 |
We are automatically extending through June 30, 2024, the validity of EADs with the category codes “A-12” or “C-19” and the expiration dates shown below that we issued to beneficiaries under the TPS designation of Nicaragua who continue to maintain TPS eligibility:
| EAD expiration date: | Now valid until: |
|---|---|
| Jan. 5, 2018 | June 30, 2024 |
| Jan. 5, 2019 | June 30, 2024 |
| April 2, 2019 | June 30, 2024 |
| Jan. 2, 2020 | June 30, 2024 |
| Jan. 4, 2021 | June 30, 2024 |
| Oct. 4, 2021 | June 30, 2024 |
| Dec. 31, 2022 | June 30, 2024 |
TPS Nicaragua beneficiaries who applied for a new EAD but have not yet received it are also covered by this automatic extension, if the EAD that you have contains 1 of the expiration dates noted in the chart above. When you present your automatically extended EAD to your employer, you may refer them to this Federal Register notice that shows that we have extended your EAD and employment authorization through June 30, 2024. We will issue employment authorization documentation, as appropriate, during the registration period. See 8 CFR 244.5(b).
In addition to EADs, we are automatically extending through June 30, 2024, the validity periods of the following Forms I-94, Arrival and Departure Records, and Forms I-797, Notice of Action (Approval Notice) previously issued to eligible beneficiaries granted TPS under the designation of Nicaragua:
| Beginning date of validity¹: | End date of validity: | Now valid until: |
|---|---|---|
| July 6, 2016 | Jan. 5, 2018 | June 30, 2024 |
| Jan. 6, 2018 | Jan. 5, 2019 | June 30, 2024 |
| Jan. 6, 2019 | Oct. 4, 2021 | June 30, 2024 |
| Oct. 5, 2021 | Dec. 31, 2022 | June 30, 2024 |
¹ Your Forms I-94 and I-797 may show a different beginning date of validity than those listed here if you were a late initial filer (LIF) at the time because the forms would have the date of approval of your LIF application for TPS. If they bear an end date of validity listed in this chart, then this notice automatically extends them.
However, the extension of the validity periods above applies only if you properly filed for TPS re-registration during the most recent DHS-announced registration period for TPS Nicaragua or have a re-registration application that remains pending. In addition, the extension does not apply if your TPS has been finally withdrawn or denied. The FRN does not extend the validity date of any TPS-related Form I-94 or Form I-797 issued to a TPS beneficiary who failed to file for TPS re-registration or whose re-registration request has been finally denied.
If you failed to re-register properly for TPS during either of these re-registration periods, you should file Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, and demonstrate “good cause” for failing to re-register on time, as required by law. For more information, see:
- INA section 244(c)(3)(C) (TPS beneficiary’s failure to register without good cause in form and manner specified by DHS is grounds for TPS withdrawal);
- 8 CFR 244.17(b); and
- Instructions to Form I–821 (PDF, 324.64 KB).
If you are filing a late re-registration application, please provide a letter explaining all of your reasons for filing outside of the re-registration period. If you filed after the re-registration period because of the DHS announcement of the termination of TPS for your country, please explain how that announcement affected you, including how the termination decisions affected your failure to re-register. However, if the announcement of the TPS termination did not cause you to file late, you should not include it as a reason. Please remember to be truthful in explaining your reasons.
Any eligible beneficiary under the TPS designation of Nicaragua who either does not possess an EAD that is automatically extended or who wishes to apply for a new EAD may file Form I-765 with appropriate fee (or fee waiver request). The beneficiary may request a fee waiver by completing Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver. If we approve your application, we will issue an EAD with a June 30, 2024, expiration date. Similarly, we will issue an EAD with a June 30, 2024, expiration date for those with pending EAD applications that we ultimately approve.
You might be eligible for other immigration options listed on the Explore My Options page.
To apply for a lawful permanent status (Green Card), you must be eligible under one of the categories listed on the Green Card Eligibility Categories page. Once you find the category that may fit your situation, click on the link provided to get information on eligibility requirements, how to apply, and whether your family members can also apply with you.
Note on Seeking Asylum: Being granted and maintaining TPS until a reasonable period before the filing of the asylum application is considered an extraordinary circumstance for the purposes of the one year filing deadline. In other words, having TPS “stops the clock” on the requirement to file for asylum within one year of arriving in the United States, if the one-year clock has not already expired. See 8 CFR 208.4(a)(5)(iv).
Please be aware that some unauthorized practitioners may try to take advantage of you by claiming they can file TPS forms. These same individuals may ask that you pay them to file such forms. We want to ensure that all potential TPS applicants know how to obtain legitimate, accurate legal advice and assistance. A list of accredited representatives and free or low-cost legal providers is available on the USCIS website on the finding legal advice web page.
We do not want you to become a victim of an immigration scam. If you need legal advice on immigration matters, make sure the person helping you is authorized to give legal advice. Only an attorney or an accredited representative working for a Department of Justice (DOJ) recognized organization can give you legal advice. Visit the Avoid Scams page for information and resources.