Temporary Protected Status and Adjustment of Status

What Temporary Protected Status does

TPS is a temporary humanitarian protection available to eligible nationals of countries designated under INA §244 and, in some circumstances, eligible persons without nationality who last habitually resided in a designated country.

While TPS remains valid, a beneficiary generally receives:

• Protection from removal based solely on lack of immigration status;
• Eligibility for employment authorization;
• Temporary immigration protection for the designated period; and
• Eligibility to request DHS authorization for qualifying travel.

Sanchez v. Mayorkas

The Supreme Court resolved a long-running dispute over whether TPS itself could satisfy the admission requirement of INA §245(a).

The Court held that it cannot.

A TPS beneficiary who originally entered without inspection remains unable to point to the TPS grant itself as the qualifying inspection and admission required by §245(a).

See Entry Without Inspection and Adjustment of Status.

TPS and lawful immigration status for adjustment purposes

INA §244(f)(4) provides special status treatment during a valid TPS period for purposes of adjustment under INA §245 and change of status under INA §248.

This can help a TPS beneficiary with status-related adjustment questions during the TPS period.

See Admission vs. Lawful Status.

TPS does not automatically erase status violations before TPS

The special lawful-status treatment during TPS does not necessarily cure immigration violations that occurred before TPS was granted.

This distinction can be crucial for applicants who are not immediate relatives and who are subject to INA §245(c)(2) or §245(c)(7).

TPS-authorized travel under current USCIS policy

USCIS substantially revised its TPS travel policy on July 1, 2022.

A TPS beneficiary may request authorization to travel temporarily outside the United States under the TPS travel framework.

When DHS authorizes the travel and the beneficiary returns in accordance with the authorization, the person may be inspected and admitted into TPS.

This applies even when the beneficiary originally received TPS after entering without inspection.

Form I-512T and TPS Travel Authorization

USCIS created Form I-512T, Authorization for Travel by a Noncitizen to the United States, for the current TPS-specific travel framework.

A TPS beneficiary inside the United States generally requests TPS travel authorization through Form I-131 under the current USCIS filing procedures.

USCIS's current fee schedule identifies a TPS Travel Authorization Document as a specific Form I-131 category.

How TPS travel can create the admission needed for §245(a)

Consider a person who:

1. Originally entered the United States without inspection;
2. Later obtained TPS;
3. Maintained TPS;
4. Obtained DHS authorization for temporary TPS travel;
5. Departed in accordance with that authorization; and
6. Returned and was inspected and admitted into TPS.

Under current USCIS policy, that final admission can satisfy the inspected-and-admitted requirement for ordinary adjustment under INA §245(a).

TPS travel and INA §245(k)

USCIS's 2022 policy also recognizes a qualifying TPS admission after authorized travel as a lawful admission for INA §245(k).

This can be highly significant for an employment-based adjustment applicant because §245(k) measures specified violations after the applicant's most recent lawful admission.

See INA §245(k) and Multiple Entries and Last Lawful Admission.

Older TPS travel before the 2022 policy change

The legal treatment of older TPS travel can be more complicated because DHS historically used advance-parole documents and later adopted Matter of Z-R-Z-C-, which USCIS subsequently rescinded.

USCIS's 2022 policy permits consideration of certain prior TPS-authorized travel under the revised framework on a case-by-case basis.

Relevant questions include:

• Date of travel;
• Whether TPS was valid at departure and return;
• What travel document DHS issued;
• Whether travel was authorized under INA §244(f)(3);
• How CBP processed the return;
• What the I-94 or entry record states;
• Whether the applicant relied on earlier USCIS policy; and
• Whether another statutory problem independently prevents adjustment.

TPS travel and prior removal orders

A prior deportation or removal order requires separate review before TPS travel or adjustment.

USCIS has historically recognized specialized statutory treatment for qualifying TPS-authorized travel by beneficiaries with outstanding removal orders, but the precise procedural history remains important.

Potential issues include:

• Whether the prior order remains outstanding;
• Whether departure executes or affects the order;
• INA §212(a)(9)(A);
• INA §212(a)(9)(C);
• Reinstatement;
• USCIS versus immigration-court jurisdiction;
• Any pending EOIR motion; and
• Whether permission to reapply is required.

TPS admission does not waive inadmissibility

A beneficiary who obtains a qualifying admission after TPS travel must still establish admissibility when seeking adjustment.

Possible issues include:

• Criminal grounds;
• Controlled-substance grounds;
• Fraud or willful misrepresentation;
• False claim to U.S. citizenship;
• Alien smuggling;
• Prior removal;
• INA §212(a)(9)(C);
• Security-related grounds; and
• Other applicable provisions of INA §212.

TPS and unlawful presence

TPS, unlawful status, and unlawful presence are separate concepts.

A valid TPS period can affect unlawful-presence calculations, but time accrued before TPS and the consequences of later departure should be analyzed independently.

Because current law concerning advance-parole departure changed in August 2026 through Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, care should also be taken to distinguish ordinary adjustment-based advance parole from TPS travel authorized under INA §244(f)(3).

TPS beneficiary adjusting through a U.S. citizen relative

A TPS beneficiary may later acquire an immediate-relative immigrant basis through:

• Marriage to a U.S. citizen;
• A U.S. citizen child who turns 21 and petitions for the parent; or
• A qualifying U.S. citizen parent petitioning for an unmarried child under 21.

If the TPS beneficiary originally entered lawfully, the existing admission may already satisfy §245(a).

If the beneficiary originally entered without inspection, TPS alone does not create the required admission, but a qualifying TPS travel return may do so.

See Family-Based Adjustment of Status.

TPS beneficiary seeking employment-based adjustment

Employment-based adjustment can be more difficult because the applicant must analyze both §245(a) and the employment-related bars in §245(c).

Important questions include:

• Was the applicant originally admitted?
• What lawful status existed before TPS?
• Were there status violations before TPS?
• Did unauthorized employment occur?
• Did qualifying TPS travel produce a new lawful admission?
• Does INA §245(k) apply?
• How many covered days accrued after the most recent lawful admission?

See Employment-Based Adjustment.

TPS and current USCIS adjustment discretion

Meeting the statutory admission requirement through qualifying TPS travel does not guarantee Form I-485 approval.

Where adjustment is discretionary, USCIS may consider the totality of relevant circumstances, including:

• Long-term residence;
• Family ties;
• Humanitarian circumstances;
• Employment history;
• Immigration violations before TPS;
• Compliance while in TPS;
• Criminal history;
• Representations made during immigration processing; and
• Other favorable and unfavorable factors.

Frequently asked questions