Temporary Protected Status (TPS) creates one of the most confusing I-9 compliance challenges employers face. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extends, terminates, or redesignates TPS for a country, it directly affects the work authorization of employees holding TPS-based Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). Each change comes with its own I-9 instructions, timelines, and reverification requirements — and getting it wrong in either direction puts employers at risk.
In early 2026, TPS changes are coming faster than ever. Somalia's designation terminates March 17. A federal appeals court just upheld a stay blocking Haiti's termination. Yemen's termination takes effect May 4. A court blocked Burma's termination three days before it was set to take effect. This guide explains how TPS works, what documents to look for on the I-9, and what employers need to do when designations change — with a country-by-country status tracker updated as events unfold.
Temporary Protected Status is a humanitarian designation that allows nationals of certain countries to live and work in the United States when conditions in their home country make it unsafe to return. Congress created TPS through the Immigration Act of 1990.
The Secretary of Homeland Security can designate a country for TPS when it faces:
TPS designations are temporary. Each designation lasts between 6 and 18 months. At the end of each period, DHS decides whether to extend, redesignate, or terminate TPS for that country. In practice, some countries have held TPS designation for decades through repeated extensions — and some designations have been terminated after years of renewals, sometimes with very little notice.
When someone receives TPS, they get two things: protection from deportation and authorization to work in the United States. To prove their work authorization, TPS beneficiaries apply for an Employment Authorization Document — the EAD card, formally known as Form I-766.
The EAD is a physical card with the employee's name, photo, and an expiration date. For I-9 purposes, it functions as a List A document, meaning it establishes both identity and work authorization on its own. Employers will see it listed as a "Work Authorization Card" with a category code of A12 (for approved TPS beneficiaries) or C19 (for initial applicants with prima facie eligibility).
Here is where it gets complicated for employers.
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When DHS extends a TPS designation, it often automatically extends the validity of existing EAD cards — but the card itself does not change. The expiration date printed on the employee's physical card still shows the old date. The extension is announced in the Federal Register and on the USCIS website, but there is nothing on the card itself that reflects it.
This puts employers in a difficult position. An employee hands you an EAD that says it expired three months ago. You know — or should know — that USCIS extended it. But the document in front of you looks expired.
It gets worse. When courts get involved — issuing stays that block TPS terminations, as happened with Haiti in February 2026 — the instructions change again. USCIS may issue specific guidance telling employers to enter a different date than what appears on the card, or to add notes like "as per court order" in the Additional Information field. Each country and each TPS event can have its own set of instructions.
This is the single biggest compliance risk TPS creates for employers: the gap between what the document says and what the government says the document means. Getting it wrong in either direction is a problem — accept an actually-expired document and you have an I-9 violation, reject a validly-extended document and you have a discrimination claim.
When DHS extends TPS for a country, USCIS typically publishes a Federal Register notice that automatically extends EADs with specific expiration dates. The notice will list exactly which expiration dates are covered. Employers need to:
Not every EAD from a TPS-designated country is affected — only cards with the specific expiration dates listed in the notice. This is why you have to check each record individually.
When DHS terminates TPS for a country, there is typically a 60-day wind-down period. During that window, existing EADs remain valid. After the termination date, affected employees must present new work authorization or employment must end.
The critical compliance point: do not take action before the termination date. An employee's TPS-based work authorization is valid until the effective date, regardless of when the announcement was made. Terminating someone early based on TPS status or national origin is discrimination under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
For a current example of how this works in practice, see our guide on the Yemen TPS termination.
Federal courts can — and increasingly do — issue last-minute orders blocking TPS terminations. These stays can arrive days or even hours before a termination takes effect, creating a scramble for employers who were preparing for reverification.
When a court stay is issued, USCIS publishes specific I-9 instructions. These vary by situation but typically involve updating the expiration date in the I-9 record and adding a note referencing the court order. The instructions for existing employees and new hires may differ.
Our Haiti TPS article walks through exactly how to handle a court-ordered stay, with step-by-step I-9 instructions for both existing employees and new hires. The Haiti situation is particularly instructive — on March 7, 2026, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the stay blocking Haiti's TPS termination, but USCIS had previously issued I-9 guidance with a March 15 EAD extension date. Updated guidance with a new date has not yet been issued as of this writing. Employers should monitor USCIS I-9 Central for updates.
When a TPS-based EAD expires — whether through termination or because the employee's individual authorization period ended — you must reverify. This means the employee presents a new document showing continued work authorization, and you complete Supplement B (formerly Section 3) of the I-9.
Do not create a new I-9 for reverification. Update the existing one. And do not reverify early — you cannot ask an employee to prove future work authorization before their current authorization actually expires.
E-Verify applies only to new hires. If you used E-Verify when the employee was originally hired, no E-Verify action is required when you reverify their I-9 due to a TPS change. If you are completing a new hire I-9 for someone with a TPS-based EAD, use the expiration date that USCIS guidance specifies — which may differ from the date printed on the card.
TPS designations change frequently. The table below reflects the status of countries with active or recently-changed TPS designations as of March 9, 2026. Always check uscis.gov/tps for the most current information — statuses can change with little notice, especially when courts intervene.
| Country | Status | Key Date | Employer Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somalia | Terminating — no court block | March 17, 2026 | See section below |
| Haiti | Court stay upheld on appeal (Mar 7) | USCIS EAD extension: Mar 15 — updated guidance pending | I-9 instructions → |
| Yemen | Terminating | May 4, 2026 | Employer guide → |
| Syria | Termination blocked by court — case at U.S. Supreme Court | SCOTUS ruling imminent (briefing completed Mar 5, 2026) | Monitor USCIS — status could change any day |
| Ethiopia | Court-ordered stay blocking termination | Termination blocked Jan 30, 2026 | Monitor USCIS |
| Burma | Court-ordered stay blocking termination | Termination blocked Jan 23, 2026 | Employer guide → |
| Honduras | Terminated — 9th Circuit reversed lower court stay | Effective Sept 8, 2025 | Reverification required — EADs no longer valid |
| Nepal | Terminated — 9th Circuit reversed lower court stay | Effective Aug 5, 2025 | Reverification required — EADs no longer valid |
| Nicaragua | Terminated — 9th Circuit reversed lower court stay | Effective Sept 8, 2025 | Reverification required — EADs no longer valid |
| El Salvador | Active — no termination announced | Designation through Sept 9, 2026 | No action needed — monitor for DHS decision |
| Sudan | Active — no termination announced | Designation through Oct 19, 2026 | No action needed — monitor for DHS decision |
We publish employer-specific guidance for TPS changes as they happen. Bookmark our articles page or subscribe to our compliance newsletter to stay current.
On January 13, 2026, DHS announced the termination of Somalia's TPS designation, determining that conditions in Somalia "no longer meet the conditions for designation." The Federal Register notice was published January 14, 2026. The termination takes effect at 11:59 PM local time on March 17, 2026 — a 60-day wind-down from publication.
As of March 9, 2026, no court has blocked Somalia's TPS termination. Unlike Haiti and Ethiopia, where federal courts issued stays, the Somalia termination is proceeding on schedule. Approximately 1,100 current TPS beneficiaries are affected.
EADs with category codes A12 or C19 issued under Somalia's TPS designation are automatically extended through March 17, 2026. After that date, those EADs are no longer valid for employment.
Haiti's TPS situation is the most complex active case for employers. DHS terminated Haiti's TPS designation effective February 3, 2026. One day before the termination, the U.S. District Court for D.C. issued a stay blocking the termination. USCIS then published I-9 guidance setting March 15, 2026 as an interim EAD extension date.
On March 7, 2026, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the stay in a 2-1 ruling, rejecting the government's request to pause the lower court's order. DHS has indicated it intends to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
What this means for employers: Haiti TPS holders remain authorized to work. However, USCIS guidance still references March 15 as the EAD extension date, and updated guidance with a new date has not been issued as of March 9. Employers with Haiti TPS employees should:
The I-9 compliance challenge around TPS has intensified dramatically. In the first three months of 2026 alone, employers have had to navigate:
Each event has its own timeline, document rules, and reverification procedures. The pattern is clear: TPS changes are coming faster, courts are intervening more often, and each event creates a compressed window where employers need to identify affected employees, follow country-specific instructions, and complete I-9 updates without triggering discrimination risk by acting too early or compliance violations by acting too late.
"TPS is probably the single hardest thing to get right on the I-9," says Patricia, Director of Compliance at i9 Intelligence. "Every country has different dates, different court cases, different USCIS instructions. And the window between 'do nothing yet' and 'you're in violation' can be a matter of days. That's why having a system that flags expiring documents automatically isn't optional anymore — it's the only way to keep up."
For organizations handling I-9s manually or through basic HR software, each TPS event means combing through records to find affected employees, interpreting Federal Register notices, and hoping nothing falls through the cracks. This is exactly the kind of situation where errors happen — an outdated expiration date left in a record, a reverification missed by a day, or an HR generalist who doesn't know that "as per court order" needs to go in the Additional Information field.
Our Expiring Documents dashboard automatically flags employees with approaching expiration dates, so you don't have to manually search records every time a TPS designation changes. The Expiration Date Report (Reports > Compliance > Expiring Docs Report) lets you pull all employees with specific expiration dates — the first step in any TPS response.
When a TPS event happens, our compliance team publishes specific guidance (like the articles linked above) and our support team can walk you through the process in your account.
Most importantly, i9 Intelligence provides its own trained authorized representatives who handle Section 2 verification on behalf of your organization. When TPS guidance comes through with specific instructions about what dates to enter and what notes to add, you have an expert handling it — not an office manager interpreting a Federal Register notice for the first time.
If you have employees from TPS-designated countries and want to make sure your I-9 records are current, we can help.
Call us at (713) 668-6200 (Mon–Fri, 8 AM – 5 PM CT), email support@i-9intelligence.com, or submit a support ticket.
This article provides general guidance on Temporary Protected Status and its implications for Form I-9 compliance. TPS designations, extensions, and terminations change frequently — always check uscis.gov for the latest information. This article is for informational purposes only — consult legal counsel for guidance specific to your organization.
Last updated: March 9, 2026
