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Honduras and Nicaragua
As of July 7, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has failed to make a determination whether Honduras and/or Nicaragua continue to meet the conditions for Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) designation. Under the statute, the Secretary of DHS must publish in the Federal Register and provide sixty days’ notice of termination. If the Secretary fails to do so, the period of TPS designation is extended for an additional six months. Thus, the TPS designation and Employment Authorization Document (“EAD”) work authorization for Honduras and Nicaragua remain valid until January 5, 2026. (But keep reading.)
For those individuals with EAD cards that have an expiration date of July 5, 2025, based on category code of A12 or C19 (for Honduras or Nicaragua TPS), work authorization is automatically extended through January 5, 2026.
For those individuals with EAD cards that have an expiration date of January 5, 2018, January 5, 2019, April 2, 2019, January 2, 2020, January 4, 2021, October 4, 2021, December 31, 2022, June 30, 2024 or March 9, 2025 based on category code of A12 or C19 (for Honduras or Nicaragua TPS) and have filed an I-765 application to extend such work authorization during the TPS designation period that ends July 5, 2025, their work authorization may be extended based on the 540-day rule provided that they present the Form I-797C Receipt Notice (referencing category code A12 or C19). Such work authorization will be extended up to 540 days from the expiration date on the face of the card, but no longer than January 5, 2026.
Keep in mind that it is still possible for DHS to publish a 60-day notice in the Federal Register to terminate the TPS designation and work authorization for Honduras and Nicaragua. If that occurs, the TPS designation and work authorization will likely expire sixty days after the publication of the notice in the Federal Register.
For now, the work authorization for individuals from Honduras and Nicaragua in TPS is extended for six months – to January 5, 2026 – but DHS could terminate TPS and scale back work authorization.
Haiti
Last week, we posted on the termination of the TPS designation for Haiti, which is set to take effect on September 2, 2025. On the same day that DHS published the notice of termination, a district court in New York ruled that the earlier notice of the DHS that had shortened the TPS designation for Haiti by six months was unlawful. Rather than issue a nationwide injunction, the district court set aside the earlier DHS notice. The court restored Haiti’s TPS expiration date through February 3, 2026. What does this mean for employers? More uncertainty. Haitian nationals with a qualifying EAD have until at least September 2, 2025 to work, but may have until February 3, 2026. Which date applies will likely turn on the appeal of the district court’s order.