Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukraine Extended for 18 Months; Certain EADs Automatically Extended Through April 19, 2026

As required by the statute, at least 60 days before the expiration of a current Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation or extension, the secretary, after consultation with appropriate government agencies, must review the conditions in the foreign state to determine whether conditions for the TPS designation continue to be met. After this required review, the Department of Homeland Security extended TPS for Ukraine for 18 months, from April 20, 2025, through Oct. 19, 2026. 

Individuals with a pending or approved TPS application may qualify for certain public benefits and REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards. When applying for a federal, state, or local government benefit, individuals will need to show a document proving they applied for or are beneficiaries of TPS for Ukraine. They may provide a TPS Employment Authorization Document (EAD) with a category code of A12 or C19, or a copy of their Form I-797, Notice of Action, for a current Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status. 

Given the time frames for processing TPS re-registration applications, USCIS has automatically extended through April 19, 2026, the validity of EADs with a Card Expires date of April 19, 2025, or Oct. 19, 2023, issued under the prior TPS designation of Ukraine. TPS Ukraine applicants or beneficiaries presenting an EAD referenced in this Federal Register notice do not need to show any other document, such as a Form I-797 or I-797C, Notice of Action, to prove that they qualify for this automatic EAD extension.

SAVE will be able to verify an individual’s TPS or pending TPS application (and any employment authorization) using information from any documents noted above. In some instances, the benefit-granting agency may need to institute additional verification to do so.

For more information regarding Ukraine’s TPS extension, please refer to 90 FR 5936, dated Jan. 17, 2025.

For up-to-date information, please check uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status.