Lawyer Listings Add, Update, or Remove Listings

Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

The temporary protection from deportation, with a work permit, that the U.S. gives nationals of designated countries in crisis: who qualifies, why registration and re-registration deadlines matter, travel, and what happens when a designation ends.

Informational only - this is not legal advice. These definitions explain general legal vocabulary in plain English. They are not advice about your situation, reading them creates no attorney-client relationship, and the law differs from state to state and changes over time. For advice you can rely on, speak to a lawyer licensed in your state.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of Immigration law firms.

What it means

Temporary Protected Status lets nationals of a country the Secretary of Homeland Security has designated, because of an ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster or other extraordinary and temporary conditions, stay and work in the United States while the designation lasts. A person with TPS cannot be removed on immigration grounds and receives an employment authorization document. TPS is not a permanent status and does not on its own lead to a green card, although it does not stop a person from pursuing one through family, employment or asylum.

Each designation sets the dates by which the applicant must have been continuously residing and continuously present in the United States, and opens an initial registration period. Anyone convicted of a felony or two or more misdemeanors in the United States is ineligible, as are people barred from asylum on criminal or security grounds. Every time a designation is extended, people who already hold TPS must re-register during the re-registration period announced in the Federal Register; missing it can cost the protection and the work permit. Late initial registration is allowed only in limited situations, for example while another application was pending.

TPS holders may travel abroad only with travel authorization approved before leaving. The Secretary reviews each designation before it expires and may extend or terminate it; several recent terminations have been challenged in federal court, and their effective dates have changed as the cases went on. Check the country page on the USCIS TPS site and the latest Federal Register notice before filing or relying on a status. When a designation ends, the person returns to whatever status they held before, so anyone facing that should find out early whether another form of relief is available (see removal defense).

Where this comes from

8 U.S.C. § 1254a (designation, eligibility, registration, employment authorization, travel; criminal ineligibility at § 1254a(c)(2)(B)); 8 C.F.R. part 244 (procedures, including late initial registration at § 244.2(f)(2) and re-registration at § 244.17). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Temporary Protected Status country pages and Form I-821; country designations, extensions and terminations published in the Federal Register.

When people hire a lawyer for this

An immigration lawyer or a DOJ-accredited representative at a recognized nonprofit can check eligibility under the current Federal Register notice, file on time, advise on any arrest or conviction, and, before a designation ends, look for asylum, family or employment options. Do not rely on "notarios" or consultants who are not lawyers.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

Find Immigration law firms in your state

Choose your state to see Immigration law firms in the city where we list the most; your city may be under “other cities”, A to Z. A state marked “Business Law” has no Immigration listing yet and opens the broader page.

Alabama (Birmingham)
+1 other city
- Montgomery
Alaska (Anchorage)
Arizona (Chandler)
+6 other cities
Arkansas (Little Rock)
California (Los Angeles)
+19 other cities
- Anaheim
- Bakersfield
- Chula Vista
- Fontana
- Fremont
- Fresno
- Irvine
- Oakland
- Oxnard
- Riverside
- Sacramento
- San Bernardino
- and 7 more with fewer listed firms
Colorado (Aurora)
+2 other cities
- Colorado Springs
- Denver
Connecticut (Bridgeport)
Delaware (Wilmington, Business Law)
District of Columbia (Washington)
Florida (Orlando)
+5 other cities
Georgia (Atlanta)
Hawaii (Honolulu)
Idaho (Boise, Business Law)
Illinois (Chicago)
Indiana (Fort Wayne)
+1 other city
- Indianapolis
Iowa (Des Moines)
Kansas (Kansas City, Business Law)
+1 other city
- Wichita
Kentucky (Lexington)
Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
+2 other cities
- New Orleans
- Shreveport
Maine (Portland)
Maryland (Baltimore)
Massachusetts (Boston)
Michigan (Detroit)
Minnesota (Minneapolis)
+1 other city
- Saint Paul
Mississippi (Jackson)
Missouri (Kansas City)
+1 other city
- St. Louis
Montana (Billings, Business Law)
Nebraska (Lincoln)
+1 other city
- Omaha
Nevada (Henderson)
+2 other cities
- Las Vegas
- North Las Vegas
New Hampshire (Manchester)
New Jersey (Jersey City)
+1 other city
- Newark
New Mexico (Albuquerque)
New York (New York City)
+2 other cities
- Buffalo
- Rochester
North Carolina (Charlotte)
+5 other cities
North Dakota (Fargo)
Ohio (Cincinnati)
+3 other cities
Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
+1 other city
- Tulsa
Oregon (Portland)
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
+1 other city
- Pittsburgh
Rhode Island (Providence)
South Carolina (Columbia)
South Dakota (Sioux Falls, Business Law)
Tennessee (Nashville)
+1 other city
- Memphis
Texas (Houston)
+11 other cities
Utah (Salt Lake City)
Vermont (Burlington)
Virginia (Norfolk)
+3 other cities
Washington (Seattle)
+2 other cities
- Spokane
- Tacoma
West Virginia (Charleston)
Wisconsin (Madison)
+1 other city
- Milwaukee
Wyoming (Cheyenne, Business Law)

Related terms

Entries on the same subject:

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

Asset Purchase vs Stock PurchaseThe two ways to buy a business - buying what it owns or buying the entity that owns it - and why the choice decides which liabilities come with it, which contracts transfer, and how the price is taxed.
Breach of ContractA failure to do what a binding agreement required - and the question a court actually asks is not whether someone broke a promise but what the loss was and whether it could have been avoided.
Buy-Sell AgreementThe contract between co-owners of a business that says what happens to an owner's share when they die, leave, divorce or go bankrupt - who must or may buy it, at what price, and with what money.
DBA (Fictitious Business Name)A registered trade name under which a person or company does business - which tells the public who is behind the name and does nothing else.
Fiduciary Duties and the Business Judgment RuleThe duties of care and loyalty that directors, officers, managers and controlling owners owe the business, the rule that protects honest decisions that turned out badly, and the derivative suit that enforces them.
Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)The document a franchisor must give a prospective franchisee before any contract is signed or money changes hands - what the federal rule requires it to contain, what it does not promise, and the state laws that add registration and relationship rights.
General and Limited PartnershipsA general partnership can be formed by conduct with no paperwork and makes every partner personally liable; a limited partnership requires a filing and shields the partners who do not manage. What each is, and the LLP and LLLP variants.
Indemnification and Hold Harmless ClausesThe contract provision under which one party agrees to cover another's losses and defend it against claims - what it usually reaches, the state laws that void some of it, and why insurance is the other half of the promise.
Independent Contractor vs EmployeeTwo legal categories of worker with very different consequences for taxes, overtime and liability - and a label in a contract does not settle which one applies.
Insurer's Duty to DefendThe promise in a liability insurance policy to pay for the policyholder's lawyer when they are sued, why it is broader than the duty to pay a judgment, and what happens under a reservation of rights.
Letter of Intent (LOI) and Term SheetThe preliminary document that sets out the main terms of a deal before the contract is drafted - which parts of it are usually binding, which are not, and how a "non-binding" letter still creates obligations.
Limited Liability Company (LLC)A business form that shields its owners from most business debts while staying simpler to run than a corporation.
Non-Compete AgreementA promise not to work for a competitor or start a competing business for a period after a relationship ends - enforceable in some states, sharply limited in others, and void in a few.
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)A contract restricting what one or both sides may do with information the other shares - and, unlike trade secret law, it binds only the person who signed it.
Operating AgreementThe private contract among an LLC's owners that decides who controls the company, how money is split, and what happens when someone leaves - or the state's default rules decide it for them.
Personal GuaranteeA promise by an individual - usually a business owner - to pay a company's debt personally if the company does not, which puts the owner's own assets behind the loan or lease regardless of the entity's liability shield.
Piercing the Corporate VeilThe exception under which a court holds an owner personally liable for a company's debts, despite the limited liability the company normally provides.
Registered AgentThe person or company a business entity must designate to receive lawsuits and official notices on its behalf - and the address at which a default judgment can quietly begin.
S Corporation ElectionA tax election, not a kind of company - what electing S status does to how a corporation or LLC is taxed, who is eligible to make it, and how it is lost.
Sole ProprietorshipThe default form of a one-owner business: no formation filing, the owner personally liable for every business debt, profit taxed on the owner's own return with self-employment tax, and when an LLC or corporation is worth the switch.
Starting a Nonprofit (501(c)(3) Status)How a nonprofit is formed under state law, how it gets federal tax exemption as a charity, and the rules it must follow to keep it.
Tax Debt Relief (IRS Collection, Installment Agreements and Offers in Compromise)What the IRS can do to collect a tax debt, the rights a taxpayer has at each step, and the programs that let a debt be paid over time, settled for less, or put on hold.
UCC Financing Statement (UCC-1)The public notice a lender files to stake its claim on a borrower's equipment, inventory, receivables or other business property - the filing that decides who gets paid first when a business fails.

« All glossary terms

Part of the LawyerLand plain-English legal glossary. Definitions are written from primary sources - statutes and court rules - and each entry states the authority it rests on, or says plainly when the doctrine is state law with no national rule.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, civil legal aid programs provide free help with many of these problems: civil legal aid programs by state.

Related free reference tools: statute of limitations for a personal-injury claim, by state, quoted from each state's official text - part of LawyerLand's legal reference tools.