Matter of H-G-G-, Adopted Decision on TPS

The following immigration policy memorandum is now available on the Policy Memoranda section of the USCIS website:

• Matter of H-G-G-, Adopted Decision 2019-01 PM-602-0172

Matter of H-G-G- addresses recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and their eligibility to adjust status under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This decision reaffirms the long-standing position of the Department of Homeland Security and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service that TPS recipients are considered as being in and maintaining lawful status as a nonimmigrant only during the period that TPS is in effect. A grant of TPS does not confer an admission, nor does it cure or otherwise affect any previous failure to maintain continuously a lawful status.

Matter of H-G-G- also says that because the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 6th and 9th Circuits have held that a grant of TPS supplies the requisite admission for purposes of adjustment, USCIS personnel will follow those decisions only in those respective jurisdictions and on that specific issue. On the question of whether a grant of TPS absolves a prior unlawful status, USCIS personnel will apply the holding in Matter of H-G-G- universally.