TPS Work Permits Now Capped at 1 Year: What Holders Need to Know

If you have Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the Department of Homeland Security has changed how long your work permit will be valid. Under the interim final rule published April 28, 2026 — effective May 29, 2026 — TPS-based Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) are now capped at one year, or the remaining TPS designation period, whichever is shorter. Multi-year TPS EADs are over.

If you have been used to receiving an 18-month or 24-month EAD when your country's TPS was redesignated, plan for that to change. Going forward, expect a one-year EAD cycle — with everything that comes with it: a new Form I-765 each year, a new filing fee each year, and a new processing window to wait through each year.

What changed

The rule is part of the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Act of 2025 (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act). DHS used the interim final rulemaking process to codify the change, which means it takes effect on May 29, 2026 without going through the full notice-and-comment cycle first. Public comments are still being accepted, but the rule applies starting that date regardless.

Before the rule: USCIS could and did issue TPS EADs for the full TPS designation period — sometimes 18 months, sometimes longer if a country was redesignated for an extended term.

After the rule: USCIS will issue a TPS-based EAD for no longer than one year. If your country has less than one year remaining in its current TPS designation, your EAD is capped at the shorter of the two.

What this does not change

This is important: your underlying TPS status is not shortened. The country-specific TPS designation periods set by DHS remain what they are. If your country is designated for TPS through, for example, 2027, you still have TPS through 2027. The change is about the work-authorization document — the physical EAD card — not the legal status itself.

Practically, though, if you cannot work without a current EAD, the validity of the card is what your employer cares about. So while your status continues, you are now responsible for keeping your EAD current on a tighter cycle than before.

What this means for renewals and money

The most concrete change is renewal frequency and cost.

• Renewal cycle: If you used to renew once every 18 months or once per TPS extension, you may now be renewing every 12 months — sometimes back to back without much rest.
• Filing fees: Each Form I-765 carries its own filing fee. Renewing more often means paying that fee more often. For families with multiple TPS holders, that adds up quickly.
• Processing time risk: Even with timely filing, USCIS processing delays can leave a gap between when one EAD expires and when the next one is issued. There is an automatic extension provision that helps in many cases — but you have to file before expiration to qualify, and you have to be able to prove the extension to your employer when they ask.
• Job risk: An expired EAD that has not been renewed can result in employment loss — even briefly. Plan renewals well in advance.

What TPS holders should do now

1. Find your current EAD expiration date. The category code on a TPS-based EAD is typically A12 (TPS) or C19 (pending TPS application). Look at the "Card Expires" date on the front of the card.
2. File Form I-765 as early as USCIS allows for your country's TPS. USCIS publishes Federal Register notices for each TPS designation that include the renewal filing window. File at the start of that window, not the end.
3. Build the new one-year EAD cycle into your finances. Budget for an annual filing fee instead of every-18-months. If you have multiple TPS holders in your household, multiply accordingly.
4. Confirm your address with USCIS. Notices, requests for evidence, and approval notices all go to the address on file. If yours has changed, file Form AR-11 immediately.
5. Keep a copy of every approval notice. The automatic EAD extension that bridges processing-time gaps depends on your employer being able to verify it from your I-797 receipt notice. Keep that paperwork accessible.
6. Talk to an immigration attorney about your long-term path. Many TPS holders have been in the U.S. long enough that other forms of relief — adjustment of status through a family or employment petition, asylum, U visa, cancellation of removal, etc. — may now be on the table. The new EAD cap is a good moment to take stock of what else might be available.

If your EAD expires before May 29, 2026

An EAD adjudicated before May 29 may still be issued under the prior rules. If your renewal application is decided before that date, you may receive a longer-validity card. If it is decided on or after May 29, the one-year cap applies.

You cannot control USCIS processing speed, so do not file based on a strategy of trying to get adjudicated before the deadline — file as soon as you are eligible, and accept whatever validity period USCIS issues.

What if you are TPS-pending (C19)?

If you have a pending TPS application and an EAD issued under category C19 while you wait for adjudication, the same one-year cap applies to renewals issued on or after May 29, 2026. Because TPS applications can take many months — sometimes more than a year — to adjudicate, expect to renew under the new shorter cycle.

The fee math: what one-year cycles actually cost you

The Form I-765 filing fee for TPS-based EAD renewal is currently $520 when filed with the supporting Form I-821 renewal, and the standalone I-765 renewal carries its own fee structure. Multiply the renewal frequency change by household size and the new arithmetic gets uncomfortable fast:

• Single TPS holder, old cycle (18 months): approximately one filing every 1.5 years.
• Single TPS holder, new cycle (12 months): one filing every year — a 50% increase in filing frequency.
• Family of four with TPS: four filings per year instead of four every 18 months. That is several hundred dollars in additional out-of-pocket cost annually, before you factor in attorney fees, biometrics fees that may apply, and translation or document-replacement costs.

If your household has been budgeting around the prior cadence, build a new line item: an annual TPS-EAD renewal fund. Set the money aside the day your new EAD is issued so the next filing is already paid for when the window opens.

How the automatic 540-day EAD extension works under the new rule

One thing the IFR did not change is the automatic extension provision that bridges processing delays. If you file your I-765 renewal before your current EAD expires, and USCIS has not adjudicated the new application by the time the old card runs out, your work authorization is automatically extended for up to 540 days from the prior EAD's expiration date.

To use this extension successfully you need to:

• File before expiration. Late filings do not get the automatic extension. There is no grace period.
• Keep your I-797C receipt notice. This is the document your employer will inspect to verify the extension under Form I-9 rules. The receipt notice must show the same A12 or C19 category as your expired EAD.
• Match categories. The extension only works when the new application is in the same category as the expired card. Switching from C19 (pending TPS) to A12 (granted TPS) or vice-versa does not qualify.

Practically, this means a TPS holder under the new one-year cap should be filing the next I-765 the moment the renewal window opens — not waiting until the card is close to expiring. The earlier the file date, the more cushion you have if USCIS adjudication is slow.

What employers need to see (Form I-9 reverification)

When an EAD expires, your employer is required by federal law to reverify your work authorization. This is a Section 3 Form I-9 update. The shorter EAD cycle means employers will be running this reverification process more often for TPS-holding employees.

Bring the following to your reverification meeting:

• Your new unexpired EAD card (the cleanest case — adjudicated and in hand).
• OR your expired EAD plus the I-797C receipt notice for the timely-filed renewal (to invoke the automatic 540-day extension).
• OR a combination List A or List B + List C document if your EAD case is delayed beyond 540 days and you have an alternative work-authorization document available.

If you anticipate the renewal will not be adjudicated in time, talk to your employer's HR department before the EAD expires. Most employers handle this routinely; surprise gaps are what cause employment problems.

Country designation windows still vary

The new one-year cap applies to the EAD validity period, but the underlying TPS country designation periods still vary. As of mid-2026, designation end dates differ significantly across the active TPS countries — some have one or two years remaining, others are facing termination decisions in the near term. The country with the shortest remaining designation will see the most disruptive interaction with the new rule, because the EAD will be capped at "one year or the remaining designation, whichever is shorter."

If your country is approaching a redesignation decision, watch the Federal Register and USCIS announcements closely. A country that gets redesignated for another 12 to 18 months will issue a renewal window during which your I-765 should be filed. A country that does not get redesignated will trigger a wind-down period during which your existing EAD remains valid until its printed expiration date but cannot be renewed.

Sample renewal timeline under the new rule

Here is what a clean one-year renewal cycle looks like for a TPS holder whose country is designated through 2028:

• Day 0: New EAD issued, valid for 365 days.
• Day 90: Set a personal calendar reminder. Confirm address on file with USCIS via Form AR-11 if anything has changed.
• Day 180 (or as soon as the renewal window opens): File Form I-765 renewal with the filing fee. Keep the I-797C receipt notice the moment it arrives.
• Day 270: Check case status online. If RFE issued, respond within the deadline.
• Day 365: Old EAD expires. New EAD ideally already in hand. If not, the I-797C receipt notice provides automatic extension for up to 540 more days.

The closer you can keep this to the early end — filing at day 180 instead of day 300 — the safer your employment is.

Why this matters beyond fees

The shift to a one-year EAD cycle is not just a financial inconvenience. It is a structural change to how TPS holders interact with USCIS. Multi-year EADs created predictable space between filings. The new annual cycle puts every TPS holder back in front of USCIS adjudicators every twelve months. That increases the number of opportunities for processing delays, RFEs, errors, and gaps — even when the underlying status is uncontested.

For households that have built lives, businesses, and careers in the United States while holding TPS — many for fifteen years or longer — this is a meaningful operational tax on stability. The right response is to (a) treat each renewal as a calendar-driven event, not a paperwork emergency, and (b) take the new cap as a cue to ask whether longer-term immigration relief is now reachable for your specific circumstances.

Public comment is open through June 29

DHS is accepting public comments on the interim final rule through June 29, 2026. Comments become part of the formal Federal Register record and can influence whether and how the rule is adjusted in the final version. Affected TPS communities and the organizations that serve them have a meaningful window to be on record.