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The secretary of Homeland Security has published
separate notices in the Federal Register extending for another 12 months
the designations of Honduras and Nicaragua as countries whose nationals
and former residents currently in the United States qualify for
temporary
protected status (TPS). The notices also automatically
extend for 6 months -- until Jan. 5, 2007 -- the validity of employment
authorization documents issued to Honduran and Nicaraguan TPS
beneficiaries under
the previous extension of TPS for
people from the two countries.
The TPS programs for people from both
countries, which will expire on July 5, 2006, have been extended to July
5, 2007. The 60-day reregistration period for both programs began April
1, 2006, and will remain in effect until June 1, 2006.
The U.S. attorney general first designated
Honduras and Nicaragua for TPS in Jan. 1999 after they were ravaged by
Hurricane Mitch, which hit Central America in Oct. 1998. Subsequently,
the designation has been extended five times, the most recent extension
becoming effective on Jan. 5, 2005, and due to end on July 5, 2006.
To register for the
current program extensions, nationals of Honduras and Nicaragua (and
individuals of no nationality who last habitually resided in those
countries) previously granted TPS must apply during the 60-day
reregistration period (i.e., between Apr. 1 and June 1, 2006). Details
about which forms to file and other application requirements, including
answers to frequently asked questions, are available in the Federal
Register notices whose
citations are provided at the end of
this article. (The Federal Register may be accessed online
at
www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.)
Individuals from
Honduras and Nicaragua who currently have TPS and an employment
authorization document issued on Form I‑766 whose expiration date is
July 5, 2006, and that bears the notation "A‑12" or "C‑19" on its face
under "Category" will receive an automatic extension of their EAD
through Jan. 5, 2007. When completing the I‑9 process for (i.e., when
verifying or reverifying the identity and employment eligibility of)
Honduran or Nicaraguan TPS beneficiaries who have such an EAD, employers
are required, through Jan. 5 of next year, to accept it as a valid "List
A" document and should not ask the employee for any additional
documentary proof that he or she is work-authorized.
Individuals who
apply to reregister for TPS under the programs for Honduras and
Nicaragua will be required to report to a U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (CIS) "application support center" to have their
photo and fingerprints taken. There, the EADs of those whose cases do
not "require[ ] further resolution" will be affixed with a sticker
extending their validity through the end of July 2007.
TPS beneficiaries
from Honduras or Nicaragua who know they will have to complete an I‑9
form for an employer should be encouraged to take with them a printout
of the Federal Register notice that applies to them, in case the
employer balks at accepting an EAD with either (1) an expiration date
that has passed or (2) an extension sticker. Employers with questions
can call the CIS Office of Business Liaison employer hotline at
1-800-357-2099 or the U.S. Justice Dept.’s
Office of Special Counsel for
Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC)
employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (or TDD 1-800-362-2735). Employees
or job applicants may call the OSC employee hotline at 1-800-255-7688
(or TDD 1-800-237-2525).
71 FR 16328-33
(Mar. 31, 2006) (Honduras);
71 FR 16333-38 (Mar. 31, 2006) (Nicaragua).
By
Richard Irwin, IRU editor
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