Seven Temporary Protected Status (TPS) countries have active or recently passed deadlines. USCIS has issued new I-9 placeholder dates for Syria (March 24), Burma (March 30), Haiti (March 27), and Somalia (March 31) after courts continued to block TPS terminations. Ethiopia's court order runs through April 8. South Sudan through April 10. Yemen's TPS terminates May 4. The Haiti and Syria cases are now before the U.S. Supreme Court, with oral arguments scheduled for April 2026. If you have employees with TPS-based work authorization (sometimes called a TPS work permit) from any of these countries, review your I-9 records now.
On March 12, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued updated I-9 and E-Verify guidance for four TPS countries at once — Syria, Burma, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. This was unusual. It happened because the current administration has been moving to terminate TPS for multiple countries simultaneously, and federal courts have blocked several of those terminations with temporary stays.
Since then, USCIS has continued issuing new placeholder dates as courts extend stays. The original March 13–15 deadlines for Syria, Burma, and Haiti passed, but new court orders kept work authorization in place, and USCIS published updated I-9 Section 2 dates for employers to use. Somalia — which had no specific date after its March 13 emergency stay — now has a placeholder date as well. Haiti received an I-9 placeholder date for the first time in this cycle. Both the Haiti and Syria cases have been granted certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court, with oral arguments scheduled for April 2026.
This guide covers every TPS country with an active or pending deadline, with the exact Form I-9 and E-Verify instructions for each. We update this page as court orders and USCIS guidance change. Bookmark this page and check back regularly.
Last updated: March 20, 2026.
| Country | Status | Current EAD Deadline | Action Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Syria | Court-ordered stay (SCOTUS review) | March 24, 2026 | Update I-9s with new date |
| Burma | Court-ordered postponement | March 30, 2026 | Update I-9s with new date |
| Haiti | Court-ordered stay (SCOTUS review) | March 27, 2026 | Update I-9s with new date |
| Ethiopia | Court-ordered stay | April 8, 2026 | Prepare — deadline approaching |
| South Sudan | Court-ordered stay | April 10, 2026 | Prepare — deadline approaching |
| Somalia | Court-ordered stay (issued Mar 13) | March 31, 2026 | Update I-9s with new date |
| Yemen | Terminating (no court stay) | May 4, 2026 | Prepare now — 60-day wind-down |
Important: All of these situations are fluid. Court orders can be extended, reversed, or modified at any time. The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari in both the Haiti and Syria cases, with oral arguments scheduled for April 2026. A decision could come as early as May or June 2026. If the Court sides with the administration, TPS protections for those countries could end with very little notice. The dates above are temporary placeholders — not new work authorization validity periods. Work authorization continues while the court stays are in effect. Check the USCIS TPS page regularly and monitor this page for updates.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) terminated TPS for Syria effective November 21, 2025. On November 19, 2025 — two days before termination — the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order staying the termination. (Dahlia Doe v. Noem, 25-cv-8686, S.D.N.Y.)
The original court-ordered EAD extension date of March 13, 2026 has passed. USCIS has issued a new placeholder date of March 24, 2026 for I-9 Section 2 purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari, with oral arguments scheduled for April 2026. The Court declined the government's request to immediately terminate TPS while the case is pending. Work authorization remains valid while the stay is in effect.
Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued under Syria's TPS designation with any of these original expiration dates are extended per court order:
These instructions come directly from USCIS guidance issued March 17, 2026 (superseding the March 12 guidance):
When completing a case in E-Verify, enter the expiration date of "March 24, 2026" from the Form I-9.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in April 2026, with a decision expected as early as May or June. If the Court sides with the administration, TPS protections for Syria could end. If the Court upholds the stay, USCIS will publish new I-9 instructions with an updated date. Either way, employers should be prepared for reverification. Monitor the USCIS TPS Syria page for updates.
DHS terminated TPS for Burma effective January 26, 2026. On January 23, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued an order postponing the termination. (Aung DOE et al. v. Noem et al., No. 25-cv-15483, N.D. Ill.)
The original court-ordered EAD extension date of March 15, 2026 has passed. USCIS has issued a new placeholder date of March 30, 2026 for I-9 Section 2 purposes. The government filed an appeal motion on February 11; the outcome is pending. Work authorization remains valid while the court's postponement is in effect.
EADs issued under Burma's TPS designation with any of these original expiration dates are extended per court order:
These instructions come directly from USCIS guidance issued March 17, 2026 (superseding the March 12 guidance):
When completing a case in E-Verify, enter the expiration date of "March 30, 2026" from the Form I-9.
If you have employees from Syria, Somalia, Burma, Haiti, Ethiopia, South Sudan, or Yemen, pull your I-9 records now and identify who's affected. USCIS has issued new placeholder dates for Syria, Burma, Haiti, and Somalia — all requiring I-9 updates. Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Yemen deadlines are approaching. Waiting creates reverification backlogs and increases the risk of errors — or worse, missed deadlines that put your organization out of compliance.
i9 Intelligence clients can use the Expiring Documents dashboard to identify affected employees automatically. If you're managing I-9s on paper or spreadsheets, our compliance team can help you sort through your records quickly.
Schedule a Free Compliance Call — Talk to our team about your TPS exposure before these deadlines hit.
Haiti's TPS was set to expire on February 3, 2026. On February 2, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order staying the termination. (Miot et al. v. Trump et al., No. 25-cv-02471-ACR, D.D.C.) The D.C. Circuit denied the government's emergency stay request on March 6, 2026.
The original court-ordered EAD extension date of March 15, 2026 has passed. USCIS has issued a new placeholder date of March 27, 2026 for I-9 Section 2 purposes — the first time Haiti has received a specific placeholder date in this cycle. On March 16, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari before judgment, with oral arguments scheduled for the second week of April 2026. A decision is expected as early as May or June 2026. Work authorization remains valid while the stay is in effect.
EADs issued under Haiti's TPS designation with any of the following original expiration dates are extended per court order:
Enter the expiration date of "March 27, 2026" from the Form I-9.
For the full employer guide on Haiti TPS — including step-by-step instructions for updating existing I-9s — see our detailed article: Haiti TPS Court Stay: What Employers Must Do.
DHS terminated TPS for Ethiopia effective February 13, 2026. On January 30, 2026, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts issued an order staying the termination. (African Communities Together et al. v. Noem et al., No. 26-cv-10278-BEM, D. Mass.)
The court-ordered EAD extension runs through April 8, 2026. This gives employers more lead time than the Syria, Burma, and Haiti deadlines — but the same preparation steps apply.
EADs issued under Ethiopia's TPS designation with either of these original expiration dates are extended per court order:
These instructions come directly from USCIS guidance issued March 12, 2026:
When completing a case in E-Verify, enter the expiration date of "April 8, 2026" from the Form I-9.
DHS terminated TPS for South Sudan effective January 5, 2026. On December 30, 2025, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts issued an order staying the termination. (African Communities Together et al. v. Noem et al., No. 25-cv-13939-PBS, D. Mass.)
The court-ordered EAD extension runs through April 10, 2026.
EADs issued under South Sudan's TPS designation with any of these original expiration dates are extended per court order:
These instructions come directly from USCIS guidance issued March 12, 2026:
When completing a case in E-Verify, enter the expiration date of "April 10, 2026" from the Form I-9.
DHS terminated TPS for Somalia effective March 17, 2026. However, on March 13, 2026, U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs (D. Mass.) issued a temporary emergency stay blocking the termination. (African Communities Together et al. v. Noem et al., No. 26-cv-11201, D. Mass.) Work authorization for approximately 1,100 Somalia TPS beneficiaries remains valid while the stay is in effect. Expedited briefing is underway.
USCIS has now issued a placeholder date of March 31, 2026 for I-9 Section 2 purposes.
EADs issued under Somalia's TPS designation with category code A12 or C19 (listed in the "Category" field on the front of the EAD card) and original expiration dates of September 17, 2024, March 17, 2023, or March 17, 2026. Because the court blocked the March 17 termination, these EADs remain valid while the stay is in effect — regardless of the date printed on the card.
When completing a case in E-Verify, enter the expiration date of "March 31, 2026" from the Form I-9.
For more details on Somalia TPS, visit the USCIS TPS Somalia page.
Unlike the other six countries, Yemen's TPS termination is not blocked by a court order. DHS announced the termination on February 13, 2026. The Federal Register notice was published March 3, 2026 (FR 2026-04179), setting the effective termination date as May 4, 2026.
Employers have a 60-day wind-down period. Yemen TPS-based EADs remain valid through May 4, 2026, regardless of the date printed on the card.
Yemen TPS EADs with these original expiration dates:
For the full step-by-step employer guide, see: Yemen TPS Termination: What Employers Need to Do.
If this feels chaotic, that's because it is. Here's what's happening across TPS countries:
This rolling pattern means employers cannot set a reverification date and forget it. Each court order extension requires updating the I-9 and E-Verify records again. For companies with employees across multiple TPS countries, this creates a constant compliance monitoring burden. For context on the broader enforcement environment driving these changes, see our ICE Worksite Enforcement Tracker.
"TPS court orders are creating a reverification treadmill for employers. Every time a court extends a deadline by 30 or 60 days, every affected I-9 needs to be touched again. Most employers don't have the systems or bandwidth to track this — and one missed update can turn into a violation," says Patricia, Director of Compliance at i9 Intelligence.
Regardless of which TPS country is involved, the Form I-9 process follows the same pattern when a court order extends EAD validity:
Note for electronic I-9 systems (practitioner guidance, not direct USCIS instruction): Many electronic I-9 platforms do not allow free text like "as per court order" in the Section 1 expiration date field. If your system requires a date, enter the court-ordered expiration date (e.g., March 24, 2026 for Syria) in Section 1 instead, and note the court order in the Additional Information box in Section 2. The key is that the correct expiration date is recorded and the court order is documented. Check with your I-9 software provider for system-specific guidance.
When completing a case in E-Verify, enter the specific expiration date provided by USCIS for that country. E-Verify is only used for new hires, not for reverification of existing employees.
If you have employees who filed to renew a TPS-based EAD, the rules for automatic extensions have changed — and the change may not be reflected on their receipt notice.
Three separate events have reduced or eliminated automatic extension periods for TPS-based EADs:
This creates three categories based on when the renewal application was received by USCIS:
| Renewal Received By USCIS | Automatic Extension Rule |
|---|---|
| On or before July 21, 2025 | Up to 540 days applies — but any portion of the extension that falls after July 22, 2025 cannot last longer than 1 year from that date or the TPS designation period, whichever is shorter. |
| July 22 – October 29, 2025 | Limited to 1 year or the duration of the TPS designation, whichever is shorter. Not 540 days — even if the I-797C receipt notice shows the full 540-day extension. |
| October 30, 2025 or later | No automatic extension. The employee's EAD is not extended while the renewal is pending. |
Why this matters right now: Employees in the middle category may be holding I-797C receipt notices that show a 540-day extension period. That extension is no longer valid at its full length — the law changed after the notice was issued. Employers cannot rely on the date printed on the receipt notice alone. Check the "Received Date" on the I-797C and apply the rules above.
For more detail on EAD automatic extensions and the October 2025 cutoff, see our EAD Card guide and Auto-Extension Compliance Guide.
Source: USCIS TPS page update, March 13, 2026. Check the USCIS TPS page for the latest guidance.
With multiple TPS deadlines passed or approaching, here is the priority checklist:
When TPS deadlines cluster like this, managing reverifications across multiple countries becomes a full-time job. i9 Intelligence tracks expiring documents automatically and our compliance team has 27+ years of experience navigating exactly these situations.
Schedule a Free Compliance Call — Our team will help you identify affected employees and walk you through the reverification process for each country.
Phone: (713) 668-6200 (Mon–Fri, 8 AM – 5 PM CT)
Email: support@i-9intelligence.com
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Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a designation that allows nationals of certain countries to live and work in the United States when conditions in their home country — armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary circumstances — make it unsafe to return. TPS beneficiaries receive Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) that employers must accept as valid List A documents for Form I-9 purposes. For a full explanation, see our guide: What Is Temporary Protected Status?
You must reverify — not automatically terminate. When a TPS-based EAD expires, ask the employee to present a new document showing continued work authorization. If they present valid documentation, record it in Supplement B and continue employment. If they cannot present new authorization by the expiration date, you cannot continue to employ them. Never terminate early based on TPS status or national origin — that violates anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA Section 274B).
If a court extends the stay and USCIS publishes a new date, you'll need to update the I-9 again with the new expiration date. Yes, this means touching the same records multiple times. This is the reality of the current court-order cycle.
No. E-Verify is only used for new hires. When reverifying an existing employee due to a TPS expiration, complete Supplement B on the Form I-9. Do not create a new E-Verify case.
Not necessarily. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), implemented July 22, 2025, shortened automatic extensions for TPS-based EADs. If the renewal application was received by USCIS between July 22 and October 29, 2025, the extension is limited to 1 year or the TPS designation period, whichever is shorter — not 540 days. The I-797C receipt notice may still show the full 540-day extension because it was issued before the law changed. Check the "Received Date" on the I-797C and refer to the EAD automatic extension section above for the rules that apply to each filing window.
Several other countries have active or recently modified TPS designations, including El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela. Check the USCIS TPS page for the current status of each country's designation and any applicable I-9 instructions.
