The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) announced the publication of a Notice in the Federal Register
designating a 12-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals
of El Salvador until September 9, 2007. Under this extension, those who have already
been granted TPS are eligible to live and work in the United States for an additional
12 months and continue to maintain their status. DHS has also automatically extended
the validity of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for eligible El Salvadorans
for 6 months until March 9, 2007. This will allow sufficient time for eligible
TPS beneficiaries to receive their extension sticker or an EAD without any lapse
in employment. There are approximately 225,000 nationals of El Salvador (or aliens
having no nationality who last habitually resided in El Salvador respectively)
who may be eligible for re-registration.
The extension of TPS for nationals of El Salvador is effective September 9, 2006,
and will remain in effect until September 9, 2007. Nationals of El Salvador who
have been granted TPS previously must reregister for the 12-month extension during
the 60-day re-registration period, which begins July 3, 2006 and will remain in
effect until September 1, 2006. To facilitate processing of their applications,
applicants are strongly encouraged to file as soon as possible after the start
of the 60-day re-registration period. This re-registration period is for eligible
El Salvadoran TPS beneficiaries only.
To re-register for TPS under the extension, a TPS beneficiary must submit Form
I-821 (Application for Temporary Protected Status) without the filing fee
and Form I-765
(Application for Employment Authorization). If the applicant is only seeking to
re-register for TPS and not seeking an extension of employment authorization,
he/she must submit Form I-765 for data-gathering purposes only but is not required
to submit the I-765 filing fee. All applicants seeking an extension of employment
authorization until September 9, 2007 must submit a $180 filing fee with Form
I-765. The $70 biometric service fee must be submitted by all re-registrants age
14 and older, as well as re-registrants under age 14 who are requesting an EAD.
Applicants may request a fee waiver in accordance with the regulations. The biometric
fees, however, cannot be waived. Failure to submit the required filing fees will
result in the rejection of the re-registration application.
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