Frequently Asked Questions About Temporary Protected Status (TPS)/ယာယီအကာအကွယ်အခြေအနေနှင့်ပတ်သက်ပြီးမကြာခဏမေးလေ့ရှိသောမေးခွန်းများ
Source: www.nolo.com
Myanmar/Burma (Valid through September 12, 2022)
How long will I be able to stay in the United States with TPS?
(TPS နဲ့ကျွန်တော်အမေရိကန်မှာဘယ်လောက်ကြာကြာနေနိုင်မှာလဲ)
The initial period provided is not less than six months and not more than 18 months, but DHS can extend this time if country conditions warrant it. As such, some TPS immigrants have been able to live and work in the U.S. for ten or more years, while others only for a year or two. To see the list of countries currently designated for TPS, visit USCIS’s TPS page.
How long will my work permit be good for?
(ငါ့အလုပ်ပါမစ်ဘယ်လောက်ကြာမှာလဲ)
You have the opportunity to receive an employment authorization document, often referred to as a work permit or EAD. It will expire on the same date as your TPS status—except that USCIS frequently issues an automatic extension of EADs in connection with announcing a renewal of TPS status for a certain country. That way, it gives itself time to deal with the flood of EAD applications before everyone’s right to work runs out.
In such a situation, you will have to show employers and others both your expired work permit card and a copy of the notice provided in the Federal Register, which is basically a daily newspaper of the U.S. government. Expect such an announcement within the few months before your EAD expires.
To access the register, go to www.federalregister.gov and enter the search terms “TPS” and the name of your country. You can also check the Temporary Protected Status page of the USCIS website for any updated deadlines and dates of a possible re-extension.
What if I entered the U.S. illegally or overstayed my visa—can I still apply for TPS?
(ငါယူအက်စ်ကိုတရားမ၀ င် ၀ င်ရောက်လာသူ သို့မဟုတ် ကျွန်ုပ်၏ဗီဇာသက်တမ်းကုန်သွားပြီ ကျွန်ုပ်သည် TPS ကိုလျှောက်ထားလို့ရမည်လား။)
Yes. While TPS approval is not a grant of amnesty (or forgiveness) for prior immigration offenses, you can still apply for and receive the benefits of TPS (including a work permit) if you entered or remained in the U.S. illegally.
Yet another compelling reason to apply for TPS is that once you are approved, your period of unlawful presence in the U.S. will be “tolled” or stopped. That means that the time spent in the United States while a TPS beneficiary will be considered lawful for the purposes of adjusting status and avoiding inadmissibility problems.
If I am granted TPS, am I then eligible to apply for a green card at a later date?
No. TPS is a temporary immigration status for people temporarily in the U.S., to protect them from having to return to an actively dangerous situation in their home country. Even if you were to live and work legally in the United States as a TPS beneficiary for many years, there is no route to permanent residence (i.e., a green card) that will follow simply from a grant of TPS.
However, you may now be, or later become eligible for a green card on some other basis. This could be, for example, because of marriage to a U.S. citizen, a job offer and sponsorship by a U.S. employer, or a grant of asylum.
If I am granted TPS and can legally work for a U.S. employer, can that employer, or another one, sponsor me for a green card?
Technically, yes, for many (but not all) types of jobs. But finding a willing employer may be difficult. It is a long and complicated process with a number of rules and regulations and requires a great deal of time, cost, and effort on the employer’s part.
Depending on your level of education and skills, there can often be a crowded waiting list for an available visa, and employers may have to obtain what’s known as “labor certification” to prove that there are no qualified U.S. workers available who can do the same job.
Can I apply for another immigration benefit along with TPS or after my TPS application is approved?
Yes. And you should do so if you are eligible for a more lasting and established form of immigration relief, such as asylum, a green card through marriage or another family relationship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or even a green card through the diversity visa lottery. One of the benefits of TPS is that, if granted, you will receive your employment authorization document fairly quickly. So it is worthwhile to apply for TPS while you investigate the other immigration options that might be available to you.
Will I ever have to reapply or re-register for TPS?
(TPS အတွက်ပြန်လည်လျှောက်ထားခြင်း (သို့) မှတ်ပုံတင်ခြင်းပြုလုပ်ရမည်လား။)
Most likely, yes. If USCIS redesignates your nation for TPS and you want to remain in the United States, in order to maintain your status, you may have to re-register for TPS (and pay associated fees). You will need to use the same forms and procedures as you used to apply initially. However, sometimes USCIS will extend TPS beneficiaries’ employment authorization for a period of time so that it occurs automatically, without requiring applicants to re-register or pay additional fees.
Can I travel outside the U.S. while my application is awaiting a decision? Can I travel after my application is approved?
(ကျွန်ုပ်လျှောက်လွှာဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်ကိုစောင့်နေစဉ်ကျွန်ုပ်သည်ယူအက်စ်အပြင်ဘက်သို့သွားနိုင်ပါသလား။ ကျွန်ုပ်၏လျှောက်လွှာကိုအတည်ပြုပြီးနောက်ကျွန်ုပ်ခရီးသွားနိုင်ပါသလား။)
You can travel, but you may want to seek legal advice before leaving if you have ever been unlawfully present in the United States. If you have ever entered the U.S. without authorization or remained past the expiration date of your visa or status, you may be deemed inadmissible when attempting to reenter—and that’s true even if you are a TPS beneficiary with advance parole (a travel document described below).
If you are sure that you will not be found inadmissible upon return and you wish to travel outside the U.S., the way to apply is by using USCIS Form I-131, Application for Travel Document. You will need to submit this form prior to departing. Check the box marked “I am applying for an advance parole document to allow me to return to the United States after temporary foreign travel” and include a copy of your grant of TPS or your TPS application receipt notice.
Once your advance parole is approved, you will remain in Temporary Protected Status upon your return. Without such approval, you would be considered to have abandoned your TPS. However, it will remain your responsibility to respond to all requests from USCIS, even when traveling, so you might want to have a friend or relative keep an eye on your mail.
Your travel outside the U.S. must be “brief, casual, and innocent.” You cannot resettle in another country or return to your home nation without jeopardizing your TPS status.
If my application for TPS is denied, can I appeal?
(ကျွန်ုပ်၏ TPS လျှောက်လွှာကိုငြင်းပယ်လျှင်ကျွန်ုပ်အယူခံဝင်နိုင်ပါသလား။)
Yes, in most cases, as long as your case is not denied on criminal or national security grounds. You can file a motion to reconsider using USCIS Form I-290B, A Notice of Appeal or Motion. However, it is highly recommended that you consult with an experienced immigration attorney, who can advise you whether it is in your best interest to pursue an appeal and help you prepare a convincing case for one.
