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April 30, 2003 Temporary Protected Status for Honduras and Nicaragua Extended WASHINGTON - As part of the Administration's ongoing efforts to assist countries affected by Hurricane Mitch, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service announced today that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Honduras and Nicaragua will be extended for 18 months. The extension is effective July 5 and will remain in effect until January 5, 2005. The 60-day TPS re-registration period begins May 5. “This additional 18-month extension reflects the Administration’s continued commitment o provide assistance to the countries devastated by Hurricane Mitch,” said Eduardo Aguirre, Acting Director, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) in the Department of Homeland Security. In an effort both to provide ample time for eligible Hondurans and Nicaraguans to re-register and to prevent potential gaps in employment authorization while they wait for their applications to be processed, BCIS is granting an automatic extension of the expiration date of the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) to December 5, 2003. The automatic EAD extension does not relieve beneficiaries of the responsibility to re-register for TPS benefits. This extension of TPS covers an estimated 87,000 Hondurans and 6,000 Nicaraguans. For more information, please visit the BCIS web site (http://www.bcis.gov) or call the BCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283. Important reminder to all employers: BCIS reminds employers that the laws prohibiting unfair, immigration-related employment practices remain in full force. Employers with questions should call the Bureau’s Office of Business Liaison Employer Hotline at 1-800-357-2099 or the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices Employer Hotline at 1-800-255-8155. The OSC’s Employee Hotline is 1-800-255-7688. -BCIS- |
Last Modified 05/01/2003