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Last week, we posted about the revocation of the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for individuals from Venezuela. As explained last week, there were two Venezuela TPS designations:

  1. A March 9, 2021 designation that expires on September 10, 2025.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must decide by July 12, 2025 whether to extend or terminate the designation.
  2. An October 3, 2023 designation that expires on April 2, 2025. 

On February 5, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a notice in the Federal Register terminating the October 3, 2023 TPS designation of Venezuela. The termination will be effective sixty (60) days after the publication of the notice in the Federal Register–April 7, 2025. Nationals of Venezuela under the October 2023 designation will no longer have Temporary Protected Status as of 11:59 p.m. on April 7 and will lose their authorization to work on April 2. 

The USCIS determined that the sixty (60) day notice is a sufficient amount of time for an orderly transition.

The March 2021 TPS designation for Venezuela remains in effect until September 10, 2025.

Please note that individuals from Venezuela may have filed to re-register for TPS and for an employment authorization document (EAD) based on the now revoked January 17 extension of the TPS designation for Venezuela. In the notice vacating the January 17 extension, USCIS stated that it will cease processing any filings received under the revoked extension and would return any filing fees. This means that if someone presents a fee receipt for an I-765 filed under TPS (Category A12 or C19) dated between January 17 and February 3, 2025, it will NOT serve as proof of an automatic extension of work authorization. USCIS is also invalidating all EADs, TPS re-registration Approval Notices, and Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Records that were issued with October 2, 2026 expiration dates under the revoked January 17 extension. Venezuelan employees whose EAD expire on April 2 may not rely on these invalidated documents as proof of work authorization.

It remains to be seen whether there will be legal challenges to the revocation of the January 17 extension and the termination of the October 2023 TPS designation for Venezuela. Stay tuned.