US Immigration Blog

Archive for June, 2010

Relief for tor those from Haiti who may not have filed their TPS applications.   The initial registration period that was to end on July 20, 2010, has now been extended to January 2011.

TPS- Temporary Protected Status-  was designated for Haiti nationals present in the United States in January 2010 following the earthquake in Haiti.

Benefits of TPS?

1) Relief from removal – you cannot be deported to Haiti while on TPS

2) Employment Authorization during the designated period and any extensions thereof.

If this is the first time you are reading this weblog, please review previous detailed posts on this topic.  Those posts address issues of who can file, where you file, what you pay for the forms and a host of related issues.

As of a recent count on June 18, 2010, only about 23,000 cases had been filed towards the 65,000 regular cap.  This would mean there are more than 41,000 visas available at that time.

Of the cap reserved for persons with a Masters degree or higher where the cap is 20,000, only about 9,700 had been filed towards that cap on June 18, 2010.

A slow economy and increased adjudication requirements may be contributing to this rather low demand for a H-1B visa.  In past years, the cap would be reached within the first 2-3 days!

Nationals of Haiti wishing to file for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) have until July 20, 2010 to file for their registration applications.

To be eligible, the national of Haiti must have been present in the United States when Haiti was designated for TPS  (January 12, 2010).  Therefore, a Haitian who arrived in the United States in February or March of 2010 would not be eligible for TPS.

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has published a list of the approved schools.  To see if your school is listed, click here ApprovedSchools