Overview
In January 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated the country of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) following a major earthquake that occurred in Haiti on January 12, 2010. TPS is a temporary immigration benefit, authorized under Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationalization Act (INA) granted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It allows nationals of a TPS designated country to remain in the U.S. for a specified period of time and work because conditions in that country are preventing them from returning there.

Haiti has been granted several TPS extensions since 2010. The current TPS extension will expire July 22, 2014.

On March 3, 2014, DHS extended the TPS for Haiti for an additional 18 months, beginning July 23, 2014 through January 22, 2016.

Purpose of Memo
This Operations Memo:

• advises staff about the extension of the TPS designation for Haiti and how it affects current Haitian TPS beneficiaries;
• reminds TAO staff about EAEDC eligibility for foreign nationals who have TPS;
• instructs TAO staff on how the INS Designation page in BEACON must be completed for clients who have TPS; and
• advises staff about how and where TPS re-registrations should be filed with USCIS and about filing fees and fee waiver requests.

Obsolete Memo
Operations Memo 2012-47 is obsolete.