Pabian Law Clients and Friends,
I hope all is well! We wanted to make you aware of two important updates relating to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) status this week.
Haiti & Syria TPS EAD Extended to July 27, 2026
First, on July 22, 2026, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily extended the validity of Haiti TPS-related employment authorization through July 27, 2026. This temporary extension preserves work authorization while other federal courts finalize their decisions following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling ending the Haiti and Syria TPS program. Employers should continue monitoring for additional guidance, as further changes may occur before the July 27th deadline.
Other TPS EAD Extensions
In an important development for employers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries, a federal district court has temporarily blocked U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from shortening certain TPS Employment Authorization Document (EAD) automatic extensions that were scheduled to expire on July 22, 2026.
On July 21, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an administrative stay in Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts v. USCIS, preserving the status quo while it considers whether to issue a preliminary injunction. As a result, many TPS beneficiaries who previously qualified for a 540-day automatic EAD extension may continue to rely on those longer extensions instead of the shortened July 22 expiration date announced by USCIS.
The court indicated that it expects to rule on the request for a preliminary injunction by August 5, 2026. That decision will determine whether this temporary relief remains in place while the litigation continues.
Background
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) reduced the maximum automatic extension for certain timely filed EAD renewal applications from 540 days to one year. USCIS applied this change to pending TPS EAD renewals, causing many employees who had already received receipt notices reflecting a 540-day extension to suddenly be told that their work authorization would instead expire on July 22, 2026.
The court temporarily blocked USCIS from enforcing that retroactive policy change, meaning affected individuals may continue relying on their original automatic extension while the stay remains in effect.
Who Is Affected?
This order does not apply to all TPS beneficiaries. It primarily benefits individuals whose EADs were shortened solely because USCIS retroactively applied the OBBBA’s one-year limit on automatic extensions.
Potentially affected groups include TPS beneficiaries from:
- Ukraine
- Sudan
- El Salvador
- Certain Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries, depending on their TPS designation and filing history.
The order generally does not affect:
- Haitian TPS beneficiaries, whose employment authorization is governed by separate litigation;
- Individuals from countries whose TPS designations have already terminated, such as Honduras and Nicaragua; or
- Anyone who did not previously qualify for the 540-day automatic EAD extension.
Because eligibility depends on each individual’s filing history and documentation, employers should review affected employees on a case-by-case basis.
Employer Considerations
Employers should not assume that TPS employees whose EADs were expected to expire on July 22 have lost work authorization. Before reverifying or removing an employee from payroll, employers should confirm:
- the employee’s EAD category;
- whether an EAD renewal was timely filed;
- the employee’s I-797 receipt notice; and
- whether the employee previously qualified for the 540-day automatic extension.
Asylum Registration
The lawsuit also challenges USCIS’s new asylum registration requirement. The court temporarily preserved the status quo on that issue as well while it considers broader relief, although the TPS EAD ruling has the most immediate impact for employers.
What’s Next?
This is a temporary order, not a final ruling. The court is expected to decide by August 5 whether to issue a preliminary injunction that would keep these protections in place while the case proceeds.
Pabian Law will continue to monitor this litigation and provide updates as additional court decisions or USCIS guidance become available.
Thank you,
Keith and the Pabian Law Team