The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision in Matter of H-G-G- affects Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries and their eligibility to adjust their status under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, reaffirming the position held by the Department of Homeland Security that TPS recipients are considered as being in and maintaining lawful nonimmigrant status exclusively throughout the period of time that TPS is in effect. Granting TPS does neither confers an admission nor cures or otherwise affects any previous failure to maintain continuously a lawful status.

Furthermore, Matter of H-G-G- also states that the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 6th and 9th Circuits’ holding that a grant of TPS supplies the requisite admission for purposes of adjustment justifies USCIS to follow those directives only in these respective jurisdictions and pertaining to that specific issue. USCIS will universally apply the holding in Matter H-G-G- when dealing with the question of whether a grant of TPS absolves a prior unlawful status.

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