What Is TPS and What Happens When It Ends?

TPS has protected hundreds of thousands of people for years at a time, but it was always designed to be temporary, and 2025 and 2026 brought major changes.

What TPS is

The Secretary of Homeland Security can designate a country for TPS when conditions there, such as armed conflict or environmental disaster, temporarily prevent nationals from returning safely (8 U.S.C. 1254a). Designations last 6 to 18 months and can be extended or terminated.

Who qualifies

You generally must:

• Be a national of the designated country (or a person without nationality who last lived there)
• Have continuously resided in the US since the date set by DHS, and been continuously physically present since the designation's effective date
• File during the registration period
• Not have certain criminal convictions or other bars

What TPS provides

• Protection from removal while TPS is valid
• Eligibility for a work permit
• Possible travel authorization

Fees and work permits

The 2025 budget law added a TPS application fee that is adjusted for inflation; USCIS announced an increase from $510 to $520 for fiscal year 2027, plus separate fees for TPS work permits, and limited TPS work permit validity to one year or the TPS period, whichever is shorter (Eig Law).

What happens when TPS ends

When DHS terminates a designation, it publishes a Federal Register notice with an effective date, often 60 days or more later. After that date, TPS-based work permits and protection end, unless a court order says otherwise. You return to whatever status you had before. People who entered without inspection and have no other status may become subject to removal.

In 2025 and 2026, DHS terminated TPS for many countries, and several terminations were challenged in court with mixed results (American Immigration Council). Because the status of each country can change with a court order, check the USCIS TPS page for your country.

Options to explore before TPS ends

• Family-based petitions through a US citizen or permanent resident relative; TPS holders who were inspected and admitted may be able to adjust status in some circuits
• Asylum, if you fear persecution; note the one-year filing deadline and its exceptions
• Employment-based options
• U or T visas for crime or trafficking victims
• Other status you held before TPS

What to do now

1. Keep copies of every TPS approval, EAD and Federal Register notice for your country.
2. Re-register on time if your country is extended.
3. Talk to an immigration lawyer now, before termination dates, to evaluate other options.

Sources

1. USCIS: Temporary Protected Status
2. Cornell Law School LII: 8 U.S.C. 1254a, Temporary protected status
3. American Immigration Council: Temporary Protected Status overview
4. Eig Law: FY 2027 inflation adjustments to H.R. 1 immigration fees