On March 9, 2021, Venezuela was designated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, until September 2022. TPS will enable Venezuelan nationals (and individuals without nationality who last resided in Venezuela) currently residing in the United States to file initial applications for TPS, as long as they are eligible.
The TPS designation is a result of extraordinary and temporary conditions in Venezuela that prevent nationals from returning safely. The complex humanitarian is due to widespread hunger, a growing influence and presence of non-state armed groups, repression, and a crumbling infrastructure. TPS can be extended to a country with conditions that fall into one, or more, of the three statutory bases for designation: ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or extraordinary and temporary conditions.
“The living conditions in Venezuela reveal a country in turmoil, unable to protect its own citizens,” said Secretary Mayorkas. “It is in times of extraordinary and temporary circumstances like these that the United States steps forward to support eligible Venezuelan nationals already present here, while their home country seeks to right itself out of the current crises.”
People who can prove continuous residence in the United States as of March 8, 2021 are eligible for TPS under Venezuela’s designation. People desiring TPS must file an application with USCIS within the 180-day registration period. They may also apply for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) and for travel permission. Brodzki Jacobs can help you process under this designation.
