Adjust from TPS

J

jlb4350

New Member
My friend was brought illegally to the US when he was 3 years old and is now 21 living on a quickly-expiring TPS. He has no family in his home country and has since become married to a US citizen. Is there any way he can adjust from TPS to a permanent resident without having to leave the US (return to his home country to re-enter the US)?
Is there any waiver to people who were brought here as children?
thank you so much for your help!
 
If he's in the 6th Circuit (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, or Tennessee) or 9th Circuit (Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, the Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, or Washington), he can do Adjustment of Status directly without leaving the US. These circuits have interpreted TPS as equivalent to admission for AOS purposes.

If he's in any other part of the US, he cannot do AOS directly, but he can try to get Advance Parole if he has a humanitarian purpose to travel abroad. If he can get Advance Parole, and leave and re-enter the US with it, he can do AOS because he would have been inspected and paroled.
 
I would also add, unlawful presence only starts counting when an alien turns 18. So if your friend obtained TPS within 180 days of when he turned 18, then he can actually leave the US normally without triggering the 3-year bar, and can apply for an immigrant visa normally, without having to obtain advance parole. Obviously, he should share the specific documents relating to his case with an immigration lawyer before making any big decisions like this.
 
An update: a new USCIS policy no longer considers TPS re-entry on Advance Parole to be an admission or parole for the purposes of AOS, so for TPS people who entered illegally who are outside the 6th and 9th circuits, they no longer have a path to do AOS.
 
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