On January 3, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will be extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for citizens of Yemen through September 3, 2021. The current TPS period for Yemenis was due to expire on March 3, 2020.
On January 17, 2020, the administration also announced that it will extend TPS for citizens of Somalia through September 17, 2021. Their current TPS period was due to expire on March 17, 2020.
TPS is offered when the U.S. government determines that civil conflict or natural disaster has created conditions making it inadvisable for citizens of the designated countries who are already in the U.S. at the moment of the TPS designation to return to their home countries. Individuals with TPS are allowed to stay and work in the U.S. legally during the TPS period. Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991, and was most recently re-designated in 2012. Yemen was first designated for TPS in 2015, and was re-designated in 2017.
Somalis and Yemenis with TPS cannot yet file to extend their status, but can monitor the respective USCIS TPS-Somalia and TPS-Yemen webpage to learn when USCIS will begin accepting their TPS re-registration applications.