Immigration Announces Temporary Protective Status for Cameroon.

By Patricia Elizee, Esq.,

TPS for Cameroon

On April 15, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security announced that Cameroon had been designated for Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for 18 months.

A country may be designated for TPS when conditions in the country fall into one or more of the three statutory bases for designation: ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions. According to immigration, this designation for Cameroon is based on both ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Cameroon that prevent Cameroonian nationals, and those of no nationality who last habitually resided in Cameroon, from returning to Cameroon safely. The conditions result from the extreme violence between government forces and armed separatists and a significant rise in attacks from Boko Haram, the combination of which has triggered a humanitarian crisis. Extreme violence and the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure have led to economic instability, food insecurity, and several hundred thousand displaced Cameroonians without access to schools, hospitals, and other critical services.

The registration process begins on June 7, 2022. All individuals who want to request TPS under the designation of Cameroon must file an application.

To be eligible for TPS under the Cameroon designation, individuals must demonstrate their continuous residence in the United States since April 14, 2022, and continuous physical presence in the United States since June 7, 2022. Individuals arriving in the United States after April 14, 2022, are not eligible for TPS under this designation and may be subject to removal if they have no other authorization to be in the United States. USCIS estimates that about 11,700 individuals may be eligible for TPS under the designation of Cameroon.

Requirements for the 18-month TPS:

· 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

· 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.

· 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.

The following will restrict eligibility to TPS:

· 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.

Patricia Elizee, is the managing partner of the Elizee Law Firm, an Immigration law firm located in Miami, Florida. 1110 Brickell Avenue, Suite 315, Miami, Florida 33131. Phone: 305-371-8846.