251 Harvard Street Suite 4
Brookline, MA 02446
Tel: 617-733-7207
Fax: 617-716-4440

TPS FOR HAITIANS

TPS status is a governmental permission for Haitians to stay legally and work legally in the United States. That permission is good for 18 months for now, but the government may later choose to extend it. The deadline to register for TPS is July 19, 2010; after that day no TPS application will be accepted.

You CAN get a TPS if:

  • you came here illegally, on the boat or on foot (the whole idea of TPS is to make you legal);
  • you came here legally but your visa has expired;
  • you have some other valid visa, student or visitor (you can have this other status as well; the benefit of it is that you can get the work permit which your other visa may not allow you to have.)

You CANNOT get a TPS (you can file, but the government will take the petition fee and deny the petition) if

  • you were convicted of a felony, or of 2 misdemeanors;
  • you are currently in removal proceedings with the immigration court;
  • an order to deportation was issued against you.

If you were in proceedings with the criminal or immigration court but you are not sure what happened, we can reconstruct that if you bring along all the paperwork that you have about this matter.

In order to get a TPS for you I would need you to bring the following:

  1. Proof that you are a Haitian National (passport, card, birth certificate - anything);
  2. Proof that you were present in the US before January 12, 2010 (utility bills, lease agreement or a letter from the landlord, anything you can think of.);
  3. Proof that you live here after January 21, 2010 (lease agreement, bills, hospital records, anything);
  4. Two passport photos
  5. Money order issued to the US Treasury for the amount of
    • $470 if you want a work permit or
    • $130 if you don't want a work permit or if you are over 65 years old.
    6. The form fee can be waived if you are unemployed and with no source of income; but if they do not believe the information in the waiver and the waiver is rejected you will not get a TPS.

TPS process

After you file the application you shall receive a notice that it was accepted and a notice to come in for the fingerprints. After they take your fingerprints you will receive the proof of TPS and the employment authorization card in the mail.

You will have to re-register for TPS in 12 months.