| WASHINGTON – As part
of the Administration’s ongoing efforts to assist countries
affected by Hurricane Mitch, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration
Service (BCIS) announced today the extension of Temporary Protected
Status (TPS) for Honduras and Nicaragua for a period of 18 months
until January 5, 2005. The extension of TPS for Hondurans and Nicaraguans
is effective July 5, 2003 and will remain in effect until January
5, 2005. The 60-day TPS re-registration period begins May 2, 2003
and will remain in effect for 60-days.
In an effort both to provide ample time for eligible Hondurans
and Nicaraguans to re-register for Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
and to prevent potential gaps in employment authorization while
such individuals wait for their applications to be processed, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is granting an automatic extension
of the expiration date of the Employment Authorization Document
(EAD) to December 5, 2003. “This additional 18-month extension
reflects the Administration’s continued commitment to provide
assistance to the countries devastated by Hurricane Mitch,”
said Eduardo Aguirre, Acting Director, Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Services.
The automatic EAD extension is designed only to prevent gaps in
employment authorization while re-registration applications are
processed, but it does not relieve TPS beneficiaries of the responsibility
to re-register for TPS benefits. This extension of TPS covers an
estimated 85,000 Hondurans and 6,000 Nicaraguans applied for TPS.
For more information, please visit the BCIS web site for the Salvadoran
TPS Fact Sheet: http://www.bcis.gov or call the BCIS National Customer
Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.
Important reminder to all employers:
BCIS reminds employers that the laws prohibiting unfair immigration-related
employment practices remain in full force. For questions, employers
may call the Service’s Office of Business Liaison Employer
Hotline at 1-800-357-2099 to speak to a Service representative.
Also, employers may call the office of Special Counsel for Immigration
Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) Employer Hotline at 1-800-255-8155.
Employees or applicants may call the OSC Employee Hotline at 1-800-255-7688
for information regarding the automatic extension.
Posted on AILA InfoNet at Doc. No. 03043044 (Apr. 30, 2003)
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