On July 21, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security announced the extension and redesignation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, from September 18, 2021, through March 17, 2023, due to “the ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Somalia.”
Also, TPS applicants who are eligible nationals of Burma, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, or Yemen, or individuals without nationality who last habitually resided in one of those countries, can now file Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, online if they are applying for TPS for the first time. The option to file Form I-821 online is only available to initial TPS applicants from these five countries. USCIS said it is starting with these countries because they are either new designations or recently announced re-designations.
All other TPS applicants and current beneficiaries who are re-registering under the extension of a TPS designation must continue to file a paper Form I-821. If an initial TPS applicant from a country other than Burma, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, or Yemen or a re-registrant files Form I-821 online, USCIS “will deny the application and retain the fee. USCIS is working to make online filing available for re-registrants and initial applicants for all TPS designations in the future.”
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