Temporary Protected Status Ends for Nepal Nationals

The Trump administration announced on April 26, 2018 that it will end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepalese nationals on June 24, 2019. TPS is granted to certain groups of people in the wake of natural disasters, wars, outbreaks of disease, and other catastrophes that would make it difficult for them to return safely to their home countries. Government officials periodically review the program to decide whether to extend it, and most groups have received regular extensions in the past. TPS was granted to Nepalese nationals three years ago when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the country, there are currently around 9000 people from Nepal living in the U.S. on TPS. The Trump administration has decided today that Nepal has sufficiently recovered from the quake for its citizens to return.

The termination of TPS for Nepal means that beneficiaries will lose their work authorization, legal status, and the ability to remain in the United States unless they are able to obtain another lawful status by June 24, 2019. So far, the Trump administration has terminated TPS for Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Sudan nationals, leaving less than 100,000 people in the program. To learn more about TPS, please click here.