Urgent · TPS · Work Authorization · July 10, 2026
TPS Work Authorization Expires Tomorrow, July 10 — What Employers and Workers Must Do Today
Work authorization for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries from seven countries expires tomorrow, July 10, 2026. As of this writing, USCIS has not announced any further extension. The July 10 deadline is the result of the Supreme Court's June 25, 2026 decision in Mullin v. Doe, which cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate TPS designations — and replaced the prior July 1 placeholder date with a new, tighter deadline.
If you employ TPS workers, or if you are a TPS beneficiary, this is not a situation to monitor and wait. The steps that need to happen must happen today or first thing tomorrow morning.
No further extension has been announced as of July 9, 2026. Unless USCIS issues new guidance before or on July 10, TPS-based Employment Authorization Documents for workers from the seven affected countries will expire. Monitor USCIS.gov daily and contact immigration counsel before taking any employment action.
The Seven Affected Countries
The July 10 work authorization deadline applies to TPS beneficiaries from the following seven countries:
The affected Employment Authorization Documents are Form I-766 cards with category codes A12 (TPS) or C19 (pending TPS application). The July 10 date applies regardless of the original expiration date printed on the physical EAD card — many of these cards show earlier dates that were administratively extended by court orders. The operative date for Form I-9 and E-Verify purposes is July 10, 2026, per current USCIS guidance.
How We Got to This Deadline
Understanding why July 10 is the date requires understanding a sequence of events that has moved very quickly. The Trump administration began terminating TPS designations for multiple countries starting in mid-2025 — including Haiti, Syria, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Burma, and Yemen. Each termination was challenged in federal court, and district court injunctions in multiple circuits blocked the terminations from taking effect, keeping TPS-based work authorization alive while litigation continued.
With litigation blocking implementation, USCIS needed a placeholder expiration date for Form I-9 and E-Verify purposes. That placeholder was originally set at July 1, 2026. Then, on June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court issued its 6-3 decision in Mullin v. Doe, allowing the administration to move forward with TPS termination for Haiti and Syria — and significantly limiting courts' ability to block future TPS terminations for any country. The Supreme Court's reasoning, which held that Congress largely insulated TPS decisions from judicial review, applies beyond Haiti and Syria and signals that similar terminations for the other five countries will now face significantly weaker legal obstacles.
Following Mullin v. Doe, USCIS replaced the July 1 placeholder with a new date — July 10, 2026 — for all seven countries, allowing a brief window for lower courts to implement the Supreme Court's decision and for agencies to issue implementing guidance. That window closes tomorrow.
What Mullin v. Doe Actually Decided
Mullin v. Doe, 609 U.S. ___ (2026), decided June 25, 2026, is a 6-3 decision with Justice Samuel Alito writing for the majority. The Court held that TPS termination decisions by the Secretary of Homeland Security are largely insulated from judicial review because Congress specifically limited the courts' role in reviewing TPS designations and terminations under INA §244. The practical consequence: district courts that had previously issued injunctions blocking TPS terminations must now revisit those injunctions and align their orders with the Supreme Court's ruling.
For Haiti and Syria specifically, the Court cleared immediate implementation of the TPS terminations. For the other five countries — Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen — the termination decisions are now significantly harder to block in court, and the lower courts are expected to dissolve or modify their injunctions in the near term.
Multiple immigration practitioners and the USCIS guidance itself note that July 10 should not be interpreted as the definitive, automatic end of TPS-based work authorization. It is a USCIS placeholder while courts implement Mullin v. Doe. USCIS may issue additional guidance, and lower courts may still take actions that affect specific countries' timelines. However, no such guidance has been issued as of today July 9, and employers cannot rely on an extension that has not been announced. Treat July 10 as the operative deadline and monitor USCIS.gov for any last-minute update.
Form I-9 and E-Verify: The Exact Instructions
USCIS issued specific Form I-9 and E-Verify instructions for all seven countries. These instructions apply immediately and supersede any prior guidance for these workers' I-9 records:
Section 1 (Employee): Enter "as per court order" in the Expiration Date field.
Section 2 (Employer): Enter "July 10, 2026" as the EAD expiration date. Add a note in the Additional Information field indicating the extension is pursuant to a court order.
E-Verify: Use July 10, 2026 as the EAD expiration date for E-Verify purposes.
USCIS recommends attaching the applicable USCIS TPS alert or country-specific webpage to the employee's Form I-9 record.
Important: Do not rely on the printed date on the physical EAD card alone. Many TPS EADs show earlier dates that have been administratively extended. The July 10, 2026 date is the operative date per current USCIS guidance, regardless of what the card shows.
If you have already updated your I-9 records to reflect the prior July 1 placeholder, you must update them again to reflect July 10. The July 1 date has been superseded by the post-Mullin USCIS guidance.
Four Steps Employers Must Take Today
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Identify All TPS Workers in Your Workforce Review Form I-9 records for employees whose EAD lists category A12 (TPS) or C19 (pending TPS). Note their country of nationality. If they are from any of the seven affected countries and their I-9 reflects a TPS-based EAD, they are subject to the July 10 deadline. This review needs to happen today.
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Update I-9 Records to Reflect July 10 Following the USCIS instructions above, update I-9 records as needed. If records already reflected the July 1 placeholder, update them to July 10. Document your changes with annotations in the Additional Information field and attach the relevant USCIS country-specific guidance to each affected I-9.
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Prepare for Reverification — But Do Not Act Prematurely If no further extension is announced, you will need to reverify the work authorization of affected employees once their TPS-based EADs expire. Reverification means the employee must present a new, unexpired document establishing current work authorization. Critically: do not terminate an employee based solely on TPS nationality or country of origin before their EAD has actually expired and a reverification attempt has been made. Premature termination based on nationality raises independent legal liability. Consult immigration counsel before taking any termination action.
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Talk to Affected Employees Today — Explore Alternative Pathways Some TPS workers may qualify for a different immigration status that provides continuing work authorization — employer-sponsored employment-based immigration, family-based immigration, asylum, or another humanitarian pathway. Identifying those options now gives everyone more time to act. Workers who have viable alternative pathways should be connected with immigration counsel immediately to assess their options before July 10.
Employers must not terminate employees based on their country of origin or the fact that they hold TPS from one of the seven affected countries — without first completing the reverification process. Under INA §274B, employment discrimination based on citizenship status or national origin in the I-9 process is independently unlawful and can result in civil penalties. The correct sequence is: (1) EAD expires, (2) reverification opportunity is offered, (3) employee cannot establish continuing authorization, (4) employment ends. Skipping any step creates legal exposure separate from and in addition to I-9 penalties.
What TPS Workers Should Do
If you are a TPS beneficiary from one of the seven affected countries, the most important thing you can do right now is consult with an immigration attorney today — not after July 10. The options available to you depend heavily on your individual circumstances, immigration history, family situation, and employer, and those options narrow significantly once work authorization expires.
Key questions to address with an attorney as soon as possible:
- Do you have a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, parent, or child who could petition for a family-based visa on your behalf?
- Does your employer have grounds to sponsor you for an employment-based immigrant visa?
- Do you have grounds for an asylum claim or another humanitarian protection that could provide alternative work authorization?
- If you have been in the United States for an extended period, what are the immigration consequences of an EAD expiration on your specific situation?
- If you traveled outside the United States while your TPS designation was active, how does that affect your current status?
Do not leave the country without speaking with an immigration attorney. Travel outside the United States while TPS termination proceedings are in progress carries risk of being unable to return, particularly given the Supreme Court's ruling limiting courts' ability to intervene.
What Happens After July 10
Several things may happen after July 10, and the specific timeline will depend on USCIS guidance and lower court actions. Three scenarios are plausible:
Scenario 1: USCIS Issues a Further Extension
USCIS could issue a new placeholder date extending work authorization further while lower courts implement Mullin v. Doe. This has been the pattern throughout this litigation — successive placeholder dates as courts and agencies work through implementation. As of today, no such extension has been announced. Do not assume one will come.
Scenario 2: Lower Courts Issue Country-Specific Guidance
The district courts handling TPS litigation for Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen will need to implement Mullin v. Doe in their specific cases. Those courts may issue orders that affect work authorization timelines for their respective countries on different schedules. The situation may not be uniform across all seven countries after July 10 — some may see work authorization end immediately while others have additional court-ordered protection.
Scenario 3: DHS Issues Federal Register Notices
Based on the pattern from prior TPS terminations — most recently Venezuela in October 2025 — DHS typically issues a Federal Register notice establishing effective dates and a wind-down period before TPS-based work authorization actually ends for a specific country. Those notices give employers and workers a specific, legally defined compliance date and grace period. Such notices have not been issued for the seven affected countries as of this writing, but practitioners expect them to follow as lower courts implement the Supreme Court's decision.
July 10 is not necessarily the permanent end of TPS-based work authorization for all seven countries — but it is the current operative date, no extension has been announced, and the legal landscape after Mullin v. Doe makes future court-ordered extensions significantly less likely than they were before June 25. Employers and workers should act on the July 10 deadline while monitoring for further guidance, rather than waiting and hoping for an extension that may not come.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep working after July 10 if my TPS-based EAD has expired?
Only if USCIS announces a further extension before or on July 10, or if a court issues an order that extends work authorization for your specific country. As of July 9, no such extension has been announced. Continuing to work on an expired EAD after July 10 — without new USCIS guidance or a court order extending authorization — could result in loss of work authorization status and employer I-9 liability. Monitor USCIS.gov on July 10 for any last-minute announcement, and contact an immigration attorney today to understand your options regardless of what happens.
Does the July 10 deadline affect all TPS holders, or only those from specific countries?
The July 10 deadline, as reflected in current USCIS guidance, applies to TPS beneficiaries from the seven countries listed: Burma (Myanmar), Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. TPS designations for other countries not on this list are not directly affected by the current USCIS guidance, though Mullin v. Doe's limitation on judicial review may affect future litigation challenging other TPS terminations. TPS for Nicaragua and Honduras, for example, is under separate litigation and a different procedural posture.
My employee's EAD card shows an expiration date before July 10. Is that still valid through July 10?
Yes. The physical EAD card's printed expiration date is not controlling — it was extended by court orders and administrative guidance beyond the face date. The operative expiration date for Form I-9 and E-Verify purposes is July 10, 2026, per USCIS guidance. Your I-9 records should already reflect this if you've been following USCIS's instructions to record July 10 in Section 2 with a note about the court-order extension. If your records still show an earlier date, update them today following the USCIS instructions detailed in this article.
What happens if I terminate a TPS employee before their EAD actually expires?
Terminating a TPS employee before their work authorization has actually expired — or based solely on their country of origin or TPS status rather than completing the proper reverification process — creates significant legal liability under INA §274B (anti-discrimination provisions) independent of I-9 compliance. The correct process is: EAD expires, reverification is offered, employee cannot establish new authorization, then employment ends. Contact immigration counsel before taking any termination action related to TPS expiration.
Can I sponsor my TPS employee for an employment-based green card?
Potentially, yes — and now is the time to assess this. The employment-based immigration process takes time, and starting earlier gives both the employer and employee more options. For employers willing to sponsor, the PERM labor certification process typically takes a year or more before an I-140 can even be filed. EB-1C (multinational managers) or EB-1A (extraordinary ability) pathways avoid PERM but require meeting specific criteria. An immigration attorney can assess whether any pathway is viable for your specific employee and advise on timing and priority dates given the current Visa Bulletin.
The Deadline Is Tomorrow. Act Today.
Whether you are an employer with TPS workers in your workforce or a TPS beneficiary trying to understand your options before July 10, the time to act is now — not after the deadline passes. Our attorneys are available to advise on reverification obligations, alternative immigration pathways, and employer compliance under the current USCIS guidance.
Request a Free Evaluation Contact the Firm- USCIS — Temporary Protected Status (Main Page — Monitor for Updates)
- USCIS — Update on Termination of TPS for Haiti (July 1, 2026)
- Erickson Immigration Group — USCIS Issues TPS Employment Authorization Guidance Following SCOTUS Decision
- Greenberg Traurig Global Immigration Blog — USCIS, E-Verify Issue Updated TPS Guidance for Seven Countries
- Morgan Lewis — After Mullin: A Practical Guide for Employers with TPS Workers
- Littler — USCIS Updates TPS-Related EAD Expirations
- Fragomen — Haiti and Syria TPS Employment Authorization Extended Through July 10
This article reflects the situation as of July 9, 2026. TPS guidance and court orders are changing rapidly — USCIS may issue new guidance before, on, or after July 10 that changes this situation. Monitor USCIS.gov daily. This article is general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult with a qualified immigration attorney about your specific situation before and after July 10.