FROM http://www.uscis.gov/tps

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for TPS, you must:

• Be a national of a country designated for TPS, or a person without nationality who last habitually resided in the designated country;
• File during the open initial registration or re-registration period, or you meet the requirements for late initial filing during any extension of your country’s TPS designation (Late initial filers see ‘Filing Late’ section below);
• Have been continuously physically present (CPP) in the United States since the effective date of the most recent designation date of your country; and 
• Have been continuously residing (CR) in the United States since the date specified for your country. (See your country’s TPS Web page to the left). The law allows an exception to the continuous physical presence and continuous residence requirements for brief, casual and innocent departures from the United States. When you apply or re-register for TPS, you must inform USCIS of all absences from the United States since the CPP and CR dates. USCIS will determine whether the exception applies in your case.

You may NOT be eligible for TPS or to maintain your existing TPS if you:

• Have been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States;
• Are found inadmissible as an immigrant under applicable grounds in INA section 212(a), including non-waivable criminal and security-related grounds;
• Are subject to any of the mandatory bars to asylum. These include, but are not limited to, participating in the persecution of another individual or engaging in or inciting terrorist activity;
• Fail to meet the continuous physical presence and continuous residence in the United States requirements;  
• Fail to meet initial or late initial TPS registration requirements; or
• If granted TPS, you fail to re-register for TPS, as required, without good cause.

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What to File

You must include the necessary forms, evidence, fees or fee waiver when filing your TPS application. Below is information about what you must include in your TPS package. Please also check your country’s specific TPS page to the left to see if there are any special filing instructions specific to your TPS designated country.

Forms

To register or re-register for TPS you must file:

1. Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status
2. Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization

PLEASE NOTE: Both I-821 and I-765 forms must be filed even if you do not want an Employment Authorization Document.  

If you are aware when you apply that a relevant ground of inadmissibility applies to you and you need a waiver to obtain TPS, please include a Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility, and fee or fee waiver request, with your TPS application package. However, you do not need to file a new Form I-601 for an incident that USCIS has already waived with a prior TPS application. USCIS may grant a waiver of certain inadmissibility grounds for humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or when it is in the public interest.

These forms are free and available on the forms section of the USCIS website at:www.uscis.gov/forms or by calling the toll-free USCIS Forms Hotline at 1-800-870-3676.  Please look below at the fee chart to see what fees you must pay (a properly documented fee waiver request may be submitted.  If you do not pay the proper fees (or submit a proper fee waiver request), your application will be rejected.

Evidence

When filing an initial TPS application, you must submit:

• Identity and Nationality Evidence: to demonstrate your identity and that you are a national of a country designated for TPS (or that you have no nationality and you last habitually resided in a country designated for TPS)
• Date of Entry Evidence: to demonstrate when you entered the United States
• Continuously Residing (CR) Evidence: to demonstrate that you have been in the United States since the CR date specified for your country (See your country’s TPS Web page to the left)

Any document that is not in English must be accompanied by a complete English translation. The translator must certify that:

• He or she is competent both in English and the foreign language used in the original document; and
• the translation is true and correct to the best of his or her ability, knowledge and belief.

Identity and Nationality Evidence
We encourage you to submit primary evidence, if available. If USCIS does not find that the documents you submit with your application are sufficient, we will send you a request for additional evidence. If you cannot submit primary evidence of your identity and nationality, you may submit the secondary evidence listed below with your application.

The following table explains the different types of evidence you can provide.

 

Primary Evidence	A copy of your passport A copy of your birth certificate, accompanied by photo identification Any national identity document bearing your photograph or fingerprint (or both) issued by your country, including such documents issued by your country’s Embassy or Consulate in the United States. Such as a national ID card or naturalization certificate
No Primary Evidence	If you do not have any of the primary evidence listed above, you must submit an affidavit with: Proof of your unsuccessful efforts to obtain such documents; and  An explanation why the consular process for your country was unavailable to you, and affirming that you are a national of your country. USCIS will interview you regarding your identity and nationality, and you may also submit additional evidence of your nationality and identity then if available.
Secondary Evidence	Nationality documentation, such as a naturalization certificate, even if it does not have your photograph and fingerprint Your baptismal certificate if it indicates your nationality or a parent’s nationality Copies of your school or medical records if they have information supporting your claim that you are a national from a country designated for TPS Copies of other immigration documents showing your nationality and identity Affidavits from friends or family members who have close personal knowledge of the date and place of your birth and your parents' nationality. The person making the affidavit should include information about how he or she knows you or is related to you, and how he or she knows the details of the date and place of your birth and the nationality of your parents.  The nationality of your parents is of importance if you are from a country where nationality is derived from a parent.

You may also provide any other document or information that you believe helps show your nationality.

PLEASE NOTE: Birth in a TPS designated country does not always mean you are a national from that country. Please see your TPS designated country’s nationality laws for further information.

Date of Entry Evidence

• A copy of your passport
• I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
• Copies of documents specified in the ‘Continuous Residing Evidence’ section below

Continuously Residing (CR) Evidence

• Employment Records
• Rent receipts, utility bills, receipts or letters from companies
• School records from the schools that you or your children have attended in the U.S.
• Hospital or medial records concerning treatment or hospitalization of you or your children
• Attestations by church, union or other organization officials who know you and where you have been residing

Please see the I-821 Form Instructions for more details on acceptable evidence.

More info at 

http://www.uscis.gov/tps