On July 1, 2022, USCIS issued an update to its policy manual which clarified that Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries may be deemed eligible for adjustment of status to the extent that they meet the inspected and admitted requirement following a return from authorized travel.
TPS beneficiaries who travel abroad temporarily, with the prior consent of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and who return in accordance with that prior authorization, may be inspected and admitted into TPS upon return, with certain exceptions. TPS beneficiaries whom DHS has inspected and admitted into TPS after such authorized travel are “inspected and admitted” for purposes of adjustment of status under INA 245(a) and INA 245(k). This is true even if the TPS beneficiary was present without admission or parole when initially granted TPS.
In short, a TPS holder who initially entered the US without inspection may later be deemed “inspected and admitted” after they take an authorized trip abroad and return to the U.S.
Travel authorization for TPS beneficiaries will no longer be called advance parole (Form I-512L) but a new name called TPS Travel Authorization (Form I-512T).
Policy Highlights
- Incorporates the Supreme Court’s decision in Sanchez v. Mayorkas.
- Reflects the rescission of Matter of Z-R-Z-C- as an adopted decision.
- Clarifies that if a TPS beneficiary is inspected and admitted into TPS following a return from authorized travel, this meets the requirements of INA §§245(a) and 245(k) for adjustment of status.
- Provides that USCIS may deem past travel under advance parole to have been an admission into TPS in certain cases.
- Clarifies the circumstances under which USCIS or EOIR have jurisdiction over adjustment of status applications following a TPS beneficiary’s inspection and admission into TPS after a return from authorized travel.
- Clarifies that jurisdiction over an adjustment application by a noncitizen in removal proceedings is based on whether or not DHS placed the noncitizen into those proceedings as an “arriving alien.”
- Removes and reserves guidance discussing TPS when considering whether a naturalization applicant was lawfully admitted as a permanent resident as required under INA §318.