Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen determined that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) should be extended for Yemen due to “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions that support Yemen’s current designation.” TPS status for about 1,250 Yemenis will be extended for 18 months.
The Secretary is authorized to designate a country for TPS status, or extend that status, due to temporary conditions in the country involving ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, an epidemic, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. Foreign nationals in the U.S. from designated countries can apply for benefits, which include a work permit and travel authorization but not lawful permanent resident status. TPS beneficiaries cannot be detained by DHS on the basis of illegal presence alone.
The 18-month extension allows current Yemeni TPS beneficiaries to re-register for TPS and remain in the United States with work authorization through March 3, 2020. To be eligible, individuals must have continuously resided in the United States since January 4, 2017, and have been continuously physically present in the United States since March 4, 2017.
Yemen was first designated for TPS in September of 2015, about six months after a civil war started there.
