TPS El Salvador Ended Sept 9, 2026: Your Options Now

31 min read
Downtown Denver skyline at dusk — the community Novo Legal serves alongside Salvadoran TPS holders across Colorado and Washington.
Downtown Denver skyline at dusk — the community Novo Legal serves alongside Salvadoran TPS holders across Colorado and Washington.

The termination date is real. The court cases that once stopped these terminations are over. If you have held Salvadoran TPS, this is the guide to your remaining lawful paths - and the traps to avoid.

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By Aaron Elinoff, Managing Partner, Novo Legal Group. Colorado Bar #46468 · Washington Bar #58949. Reviewed by Aaron Elinoff, Managing Partner.

The short version

The Department of Homeland Security's 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador expires on September 9, 2026. There is no successor extension. There is no live court order blocking the termination. After the Supreme Court's June 25, 2026 decision in Mullin v. Doe, there is no realistic litigation theory that will stop it either.

For roughly 170,000 Salvadoran nationals who have held TPS - most for more than twenty years, many with U.S.-citizen spouses and children, mortgages, and jobs - September 9 is the day work authorization lapses and unlawful-presence exposure begins to accrue again.

This guide walks you through what actually changes on September 9, the transition paths that may (or may not) apply to your facts, why the Advance Parole "quick fix" is now dangerous after Delcarmen-Lara, and the steps you should take in the weeks you have left. If you want to skip to the fact-pattern triage, go to When to talk to Novo Legal at the end.

If you are a Salvadoran TPS holder in Colorado or Washington and want to know which paths apply to your family - contact Novo Legal to schedule a consultation or call (888) 746-5245.

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What just happened

On January 17, 2025, DHS published an 18-month extension of El Salvador's TPS designation. Extension of the Designation of El Salvador for Temporary Protected Status, 90 Fed. Reg. 5953 (Jan. 17, 2025) (Docket No. USCIS-2008-0034, RIN 1615-ZB71). That notice set the extension to expire on September 9, 2026, and DHS has not announced a further extension or a new designation.

That is the termination. In plain terms:

  • On September 9, 2026, El Salvador TPS ends as a country designation.
  • On September 10, 2026, Salvadoran TPS beneficiaries no longer hold TPS status.
  • No new EADs will be issued under the A12 or C19 categories tied to Salvadoran TPS after that date.
  • Anyone still in the country without another lawful status begins accruing unlawful presence again for purposes of the 3-year and 10-year bars under INA § 212(a)(9)(B).

Termination is not the same as deportation. DHS does not remove you on September 10 by operation of the calendar. What termination does is close the fence around your lawful presence: it strips work authorization, it puts you in a removable posture, and it hands your employer an I-9 problem. Enforcement is a separate process that requires an NTA and a court date. But that fence is a real fence, and the paths through it narrow every month you wait to look at them.

Why the courts are not going to save this

Two cases matter here, and both have effectively closed.

Ramos v. Nielsen, the 2018 injunction that once stopped the first-Trump-administration terminations of TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan, was dismissed as moot on December 28, 2023 in the Northern District of California after the Biden administration rescinded the underlying terminations. There is no live Ramos injunction. There is no pending Ramos appeal.

National TPS Alliance v. Noem, No. 3:25-cv-01766 (N.D. Cal.), was the current-generation challenge to this administration's TPS decisions - but it targeted Venezuela and Haiti, not El Salvador as an operative claim. The Supreme Court stayed the district court's injunction in May 2025 and then, on June 25, 2026, decided Mullin v. Doe, No. 25-1083 (2026). The 6-3 majority (Alito, joined by Roberts, Thomas, and Kavanaugh in full; Gorsuch and Barrett in part) held that most APA and statutory challenges to TPS designation, extension, or termination decisions are barred from judicial review by the INA. Constitutional claims - equal protection, due process - are nominally still available, but the pleading and merits bars are steep and no such challenge is currently teed up to reach a preliminary injunction before September 9.

Read plainly: the litigation lane is closed. Any advisor who tells you to wait for a court to pause the termination is either working with information a year out of date or selling something.

Who this affects, in numbers

Approximately 170,000 Salvadoran nationals hold TPS as of the most recent USCIS figures, and roughly 152,000 are active in the U.S. labor force. More than half have lived in the United States for twenty years or more - the El Salvador TPS designation followed the January and February 2001 earthquakes, and many current beneficiaries registered that year and have re-registered every cycle since. The largest concentrations are in California, Texas, Maryland, New York, and Virginia. Colorado and Washington are not top-five states, but both house meaningful Salvadoran communities that Novo Legal represents daily.

The Center for Migration Studies estimated more than 190,000 U.S.-citizen children with a Salvadoran TPS parent as of 2017; that cohort has aged into adulthood in the years since, which materially expands the number of families with a U.S.-citizen petitioner old enough (21+) to file an I-130 for a parent.

Immediate impact: what changed on September 9

Work authorization

Under the January 2025 FR notice, EADs in categories A12 or C19 with certain prior expiration dates were automatically extended through March 9, 2026, and renewal applications filed during the 60-day re-registration window received a further 540-day auto-extension not to exceed September 9, 2026.

On August 12, 2026, USCIS confirmed the endgame separately: EADs bearing category codes A12 or C19 remain valid only through September 9, 2026 for renewals filed before October 30, 2025. USCIS instructed employers to enter "September 9, 2026" as the Form I-9 expiration date, with a reference to the USCIS alert in the "Additional Information" field.

There is no wind-down grace period after that. On September 10, the card that has been your work authorization for a decade or two decades no longer authorizes work.

Removal exposure and unlawful presence

TPS suspends the accrual of unlawful presence for the 3-year and 10-year bars under INA § 212(a)(9)(B). Termination ends that suspension.

For a Salvadoran TPS holder who entered without inspection years ago and whose only lawful presence has been TPS itself, the accrual clock restarts on September 10, 2026. Any subsequent departure from the United States after 180 days of post-termination unlawful presence triggers the 3-year bar; departure after one year of accrual triggers the 10-year bar. This is why the Advance Parole question below has become the most consequential single decision most TPS holders will make in the next several weeks.

Employer I-9 posture

Your employer has an obligation under 8 C.F.R. § 274a to complete a Form I-9 for every employee and to reverify work authorization when it expires. On September 10, your I-9 expires by operation of the USCIS instruction dated August 12, 2026. Your employer is required to reverify.

If you provide a new document that establishes work authorization (a green card, a new EAD tied to a different category such as a pending I-485 or U-visa, or an unrestricted Social Security card in some circumstances), the employer completes Section 3 of the I-9 and you keep working. If you do not, the employer is required to terminate employment.

What your employer is not permitted to do: discriminate on the basis of national origin, demand specific documents beyond what the I-9 rules allow, or terminate you before September 9 based on the announced termination. Getting fired on September 3 because the news said TPS is ending is not the same thing as an I-9-driven termination on September 10, and the difference has legal consequences. If your employer is pushing you out early, counsel can help distinguish an I-9-compliant reverification from an anticipatory termination and coordinate with an employment attorney if the fact pattern warrants.

Driver's licenses and Real ID

Colorado issues driver's licenses under C.R.S. § 42-2-127.7 regardless of immigration status (a "SB13-251" or "CORA" license). A Salvadoran TPS holder who loses status will still qualify for a Colorado standard driver's license. Federal Real ID compliance is a separate question - Real ID-compliant credentials require documentation of lawful status, which TPS termination affects.

Washington issues standard driver's licenses regardless of immigration status under RCW 46.20.035. A Salvadoran TPS holder who loses status will still qualify for a standard Washington license. Enhanced Driver's Licenses (EDLs) are a separate category with lawful-status requirements.

Check your specific state DMV before September 9 if you are relying on a Real ID-compliant credential for air travel or federal building access.

Transition paths: the decision tree

This is the section that matters. Not every path applies to every TPS holder. Most Salvadoran TPS beneficiaries have exactly one or two paths available on their facts, and the difference between "you might qualify" and "you clearly do not" turns on details - date of entry, whether you have ever traveled on Advance Parole, whether a family member filed a petition for you before April 30, 2001, whether you have a qualifying U.S.-citizen or LPR relative, whether you have any criminal history, whether you have been the victim of a crime or trafficking or family violence.

Read this section as a triage. Note the paths that look plausible for you. Then bring the specifics to counsel.

Family-based adjustment of status (I-130 / I-485)

Applies to you if: You have a U.S.-citizen or LPR spouse, U.S.-citizen parent (and you are unmarried and under 21, or you are the beneficiary of a preference-category petition), or a U.S.-citizen child who is at least 21 years old and can petition for you as a parent.

This is the path with the highest volume of possible relief for the Salvadoran TPS population, and it is the path where the legal doctrine has moved the most in the last several years.

Two doctrinal facts drive the analysis.

First, a grant of TPS by itself is not an "inspection and admission" for adjustment of status under INA § 245(a). Sanchez v. Mayorkas, 141 S. Ct. 1809 (2021). A Salvadoran TPS holder who entered without inspection and who has never had any other admission is not, by virtue of TPS alone, eligible to adjust status inside the United States. That is the Supreme Court rule.

Second, since USCIS Policy Alert PA-2022-16 (July 1, 2022), USCIS has treated a TPS holder who leaves the country and returns on Advance Parole as "inspected and admitted" for § 245(a) purposes nationwide, in every circuit. In the Ninth Circuit - which controls Washington - Ramirez v. Brown, 852 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 2017), goes further and treats the TPS grant itself as an admission for adjustment. In the Tenth Circuit - which controls Colorado - there is no published circuit decision squarely on the question, and Colorado clients rely on the current USCIS policy position.

And now the third fact, which changes everything. As of August 13, 2026, Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026), held that a physical departure - including Advance Parole travel - counts as a "departure" for the 10-year prospective unlawful-presence bar under INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II). See our companion pillar at Advance Parole and the New Unlawful-Presence Bar. Put together: the AP trip that once solved the § 245(a) admission problem may now trigger a 10-year bar on the other side.

For a Salvadoran TPS holder who has a viable I-130 (a USC spouse, or a USC child who has turned 21), the practical decision tree looks like this:

  • If you already have an approved I-130 and you have already traveled on AP in the past (before August 13, 2026), counsel can evaluate whether you have an existing admission that supports § 245(a) adjustment inside the country. The § 245(a) path may be open without further travel.
  • If you have a viable I-130 but no prior AP admission, do not assume AP is the fix. Post-Delcarmen-Lara, an AP trip taken now may add a 10-year bar to the file. Consular processing plus an I-601A provisional waiver (below) may be the safer route, depending on your facts.
  • If your qualifying petitioner is an LPR spouse or a USC sibling (not an immediate relative), you are looking at a preference-category priority date. Check the Visa Bulletin for El Salvador's chargeability - the F2A category (LPR spouse and unmarried children) is often current or close to current, but F4 (siblings) is decades out.
  • INA § 245(i) grandfather. A very narrow lane: if you or a qualifying relative filed a labor certification or an I-130 for you on or before April 30, 2001, and you were physically present in the U.S. on December 21, 2000, § 245(i) allows adjustment inside the country regardless of manner of entry, on payment of a $1,000 penalty. For the 2001-era Salvadoran TPS cohort this is real for a subset - if a family member filed something for you a quarter-century ago, dig up the record.

Internal link: Family immigration - I-130, priority dates, AOS vs. consular processing.

Consular processing with an I-601A provisional waiver

Applies to you if: You have an approved I-130 (usually through a USC or LPR spouse or parent), you are not eligible to adjust status inside the country, and you have a USC or LPR spouse or parent who would suffer extreme hardship if you were barred from returning.

The mechanics: you leave the United States for a consular interview in San Salvador. Because you have accrued unlawful presence, your departure triggers the 3-year or 10-year bar under INA § 212(a)(9)(B). You need a waiver to come back. The I-601A "provisional" waiver, 8 C.F.R. § 212.7(e), lets you apply for the unlawful-presence waiver before you leave, so you know whether it is approved before you take the risk of departure. The standard is extreme hardship to a U.S.-citizen or lawful-permanent-resident spouse or parent (not to your child).

Two things to understand:

  • The I-601A waives the unlawful-presence bar only. If you have other inadmissibility issues - certain criminal convictions, prior removal orders, fraud - the I-601A alone does not clear them. Different waivers apply, on different standards.
  • Consular processing takes time. Interviews at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador routinely run six to eighteen months from I-601A approval to visa issuance, and there is real risk in the process: administrative processing delays, denials, and family separation during the interview period.

For a family with a strong hardship case - a USC spouse with a serious medical condition, mortgage and dependent-care obligations that only the TPS holder services, U.S.-born children with special needs - this is often the cleanest path to a green card. For a family without a viable I-130 petitioner, it is not a path at all.

Internal link: The I-601 Waiver of Inadmissibility - a Colorado attorney's guide to the unlawful-presence bar.

Asylum

Applies to you if: You have a well-founded fear of persecution in El Salvador on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group - and either you file within one year of your last entry, or you can show a changed or extraordinary circumstance that excuses the deadline.

Asylum applications must generally be filed within one year of the applicant's last arrival in the United States. INA § 208(a)(2)(B); 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B). For most Salvadoran TPS holders who entered in 2001 or earlier, that one year is long gone.

The deadline can be excused for "changed circumstances" or "extraordinary circumstances," 8 C.F.R. § 208.4(a)(4)-(5). Immigration judges have accepted the termination of a TPS designation as a "changed circumstance" that materially affects an applicant's eligibility, particularly where country conditions in El Salvador have deteriorated during the TPS period. This is fact-specific. It is not a bright-line safe harbor. Whether a September 2026 asylum filing survives the one-year bar depends on the specific country-conditions and personal-circumstances record you can build.

The substantive merits for Salvadoran claims are their own analysis: gang-based persecution, family-membership PSG under a Matter of L-E-A- posture that has shifted more than once, gender-based claims, and political-opinion claims tied to Salvadoran government conduct. Every claim is fact-specific; none of these theories is a slam dunk in the current adjudication climate.

Do not treat asylum as a defensive "backup filing" without understanding the consequences of a denial. A denied affirmative asylum application is referred to Immigration Court, which places you in removal proceedings.

Internal link: Asylum Lawyer Denver - Affirmative & Defensive.

VAWA self-petition

Applies to you if: You are the abused spouse, child, or parent of a U.S. citizen, or the abused spouse or child of a lawful permanent resident, and the abuse occurred during the qualifying relationship.

The Violence Against Women Act self-petition process (INA § 204(a)(1)) lets abuse survivors petition for themselves, without the abuser's involvement or knowledge. It is a lawful, confidential path that leads to a green card. The petition can be filed regardless of your current immigration status; VAWA does not require the petitioner to hold TPS or any other status.

For a Salvadoran TPS holder whose USC or LPR spouse has been abusive, VAWA may be the single most important tool - it is often faster than consular processing and it does not require the abusive spouse to file anything.

Internal link: VAWA Attorney in Seattle for Spanish-Speaking Survivors.

U-visa and T-visa

U-visa applies to you if: You have been the victim of a qualifying crime in the United States, you have suffered substantial physical or mental harm, and you have been helpful or are willing to be helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution.

T-visa applies to you if: You are a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, are present in the U.S. on account of the trafficking, and have complied with reasonable requests for assistance from law enforcement (with exceptions).

Both visas confer nonimmigrant status, work authorization, and (after a period) a pathway to adjust to lawful permanent residence. Both require a certification from a law-enforcement agency (I-918 Supplement B for U; less rigid for T). Both have long adjudication backlogs, but interim benefits - work authorization via Bona Fide Determination for U-visa petitioners, deferred action for waitlisted petitioners - have historically provided meaningful protection during the wait.

Important flag for reader: USCIS's Bona Fide Determination process for U-visa petitioners has been the subject of policy revisions in 2026 that may affect the timing of interim work authorization. If you are considering filing a U-visa, ask counsel what the current BFD posture is at the time of your filing; the interim work-authorization mechanics may not look like they did in 2024 or 2025.

Internal links: U Visa Attorney Denver, Colorado · T-Visa in Colorado: Do You Qualify? A Survivor's Guide · Victim visas hub.

Cancellation of Removal (INA § 240A(b)(1) - "42B")

Applies to you if: You have been placed in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and you meet the four statutory prongs under INA § 240A(b)(1).

Non-LPR cancellation of removal is available in Immigration Court, not from USCIS. To qualify, you must show:

  1. Ten years of continuous physical presence in the United States immediately preceding the application, without a "stop-time" event under INA § 240A(d)(1).
  2. Good moral character during that ten-year period.
  3. No disqualifying convictions under INA §§ 212(a)(2), 237(a)(2), or 237(a)(3).
  4. Exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a U.S.-citizen or lawful-permanent-resident spouse, parent, or child if you were removed.

The hardship prong is the hard one. It is a higher standard than "extreme hardship" (the I-601 waiver standard) and considerably higher than "hardship." Recent BIA guidance in Matter of Arevalo-Vargas, 29 I&N Dec. 519 (BIA 2026), has confirmed that "economic hardship and educational setbacks alone" do not satisfy the standard; the case law requires hardship that is substantially beyond what would ordinarily be expected from removal.

Two more things to know: cancellation grants are capped at 4,000 per fiscal year under INA § 240A(e)(1), and the Supreme Court's decision in Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 593 U.S. 155 (2021), reformed the stop-time rule so that a valid Notice to Appear must contain time and place information to stop the ten-year clock. That reform has helped some long-resident TPS holders whose prior NTAs were defective.

Cancellation is not a path you affirmatively file for. It is a form of relief you request once you are placed in removal proceedings. That means if you are considering this route, you are considering triggering enforcement proceedings against yourself in exchange for the chance to argue for a green card in Immigration Court. It is not a decision to make without counsel.

Internal link: Cancellation of Removal 42B Eligibility (Colorado).

Employment-based (H-1B / EB-2 / EB-3 / EB-5)

Applies to you if: You have an employer willing to sponsor a permanent position, and the position and your qualifications support one of the employment-based preference categories.

For a subset of Salvadoran TPS holders - typically those in skilled roles with long tenure at a single employer, or those with genuine EB-5 investor capacity - employer sponsorship is a real option. The mechanics involve PERM labor certification (20 C.F.R. § 656) for EB-2/EB-3, an approved I-140 immigrant petition, and then either consular processing or adjustment of status inside the country if § 245(a) admission is present.

For most Salvadoran TPS holders working in service, construction, or hospitality roles, employer-sponsored EB adjustment is not a realistic near-term path. The employer investment (legal fees, prevailing-wage constraints, recruitment obligations) is significant and few employers will undertake it without a strong business case.

This is narrow but not zero. If your employer has ever mentioned sponsoring you, this is the month to ask.

Prosecutorial discretion and administrative closure

Applies to you if: You are already in removal proceedings and are asking a court or ICE attorney to exercise favorable discretion in your case.

The primary Biden-era guidance on prosecutorial discretion - the April 3, 2022 "Doyle memo" from ICE OPLA - was rescinded in 2025 as part of the current administration's executive order revoking prior civil-enforcement priorities. There is no meaningful successor PD framework currently in effect. Requests for administrative closure, ICE joinder in motions to reopen, or NTA cancellation face a much higher bar today than they did in 2022 through 2024.

Do not build your plan around PD. If you are in proceedings, focus on substantive relief - asylum, cancellation of removal, adjustment of status - and treat any PD outcome as a bonus, not a strategy.

For an explainer on the mechanics of administrative closure specifically, see How Administrative Closure Is Used to Dismiss Deportation Proceedings.

The Advance Parole trap

There is a temptation, when TPS ends, to think: "I'll travel on Advance Parole before September 9, come back with an admission, and then adjust status through my USC spouse or child." That plan was viable for years. It is no longer viable in most fact patterns without careful, individualized analysis.

On August 13, 2026, the Board of Immigration Appeals decided Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026). The BIA held that the plain meaning of "depart" in INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II) covers any physical exit - including Advance Parole travel. That means: if you accrue one year or more of unlawful presence at any point and then physically leave the United States, you may trigger the 10-year prospective bar, even if the trip is authorized by USCIS.

Three points that matter for TPS holders considering AP travel:

  1. The 10-year prong is the concern, not the 3-year prong. Delcarmen-Lara did not address the 3-year bar under § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(I). For a TPS holder whose only significant unlawful-presence exposure is post-termination accrual after September 10, 2026, the 3-year prong is not implicated by a pre-September-9 AP trip - the accrual has not begun yet. But most 2001-cohort Salvadoran TPS holders accrued far more than one year of unlawful presence between their original entry and their 2001 TPS grant. That prior accrual is what makes the 10-year prong live.
  2. Matter of Arrabally is narrowed, not dead. Matter of Arrabally & Yerrabelly, 25 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2012), held that a departure on AP is not a "departure" that triggers the 3/10-year bars. That holding is substantially narrowed by Delcarmen-Lara, at least for the 10-year prospective bar and at least on facts similar to Delcarmen-Lara's. Your counsel needs to read Arrabally, Delcarmen-Lara, and your specific fact pattern together before recommending travel.
  3. A Form I-601 waiver may be discretionarily available for the 10-year unlawful-presence bar if it is triggered - the standard is extreme hardship to a USC or LPR spouse or parent, applied at the consular interview or on a subsequent I-485. It is a discretionary waiver, not an entitlement, and its availability depends on whether you have a qualifying relative and how strong the hardship record is.

The bottom line: do not travel on Advance Parole between now and September 9, 2026 without individualized counsel who has read Delcarmen-Lara and understands your specific unlawful-presence history. The pre-August-2026 rule of thumb - "AP travel cures the § 245(a) problem" - is no longer safe general advice. See our full analysis at Advance Parole and the New Unlawful-Presence Bar (Delcarmen-Lara).

What to do NOW: the timeline

Before September 9

  • Document preservation. Gather every EAD you have ever held (originals and copies), your I-821 approval notices for every TPS re-registration cycle, your Social Security card, tax returns for the last ten years, W-2s and 1099s, pay stubs, medical records, lease agreements, mortgage statements, utility bills, and any correspondence from USCIS or DHS. If you have USC or LPR family members, gather their birth certificates, marriage certificates, and passports. If a family member has ever filed an I-130 or a labor certification for you at any point - even in 2001, even if it went nowhere - find that record.
  • Employer conversation. Approach your HR contact before September 9. Tell them that USCIS's August 12, 2026 update instructs employers to reverify your I-9 on September 10 using "September 9, 2026" as the expiration date, with a reference to the USCIS alert. If you are pursuing another status (I-485 pending, U-visa pending, VAWA pending) and will have a new EAD, tell them the category and expected timing. Do not volunteer information about your immigration history beyond what the I-9 requires. If your employer has questions your intake conversation does not resolve, that is when to bring immigration counsel in.
  • Consult scheduling. If you have not already met with an immigration attorney about post-TPS options, do it in August or the first week of September. The month before termination is the busiest month in every immigration firm in the country; the earlier you get on a calendar, the more time counsel has to actually build your case.
  • Family emergency planning. If you have minor U.S.-citizen children, complete a durable power of attorney and a temporary custody authorization naming a trusted adult - a USC or LPR relative or a permanent-resident friend - as the person who can make school, medical, and travel decisions for your children if you cannot. Financial powers of attorney and a written household plan should cover your spouse and any dependents.

Ready to build your transition plan?

Novo Legal represents Salvadoran TPS holders in Denver, Seattle, and throughout Colorado and Washington. Schedule a consultation or call (888) 746-5245.

Schedule a consultation

The download: TPS transition options checklist (PDF)

Cover of the TPS El Salvador Transition Checklist — a free downloadable one-page guide to the transition options after September 9, 2026, from Novo Legal Group.

Not every path fits every family. To help you triage which paths are worth a consultation, we built a free downloadable TPS transition options checklist - a one-page decision guide keyed to the paths above, plus a document-gathering worksheet.

Download the TPS transition checklist (PDF)

September 9 through the first 30 days

  • September 9, 2026 (Wednesday): Last day of TPS status. Last day of A12/C19 EAD validity per the Aug. 12, 2026 USCIS update. Last day, absent another lawful status, that unlawful-presence accrual is suspended.
  • September 10 (Thursday) through mid-October: I-9 reverifications occur at most employers. If you have not established alternative work authorization, expect a termination notice under the I-9 rules. If you are terminated, document the termination (keep the notice, keep any HR communications), file for unemployment if you are eligible under state law (Colorado and Washington both permit filings by individuals who are legally authorized to work at the time of the wage-earning period; consult a state-specific labor law attorney), and treat the 30-day window as the deadline to have your alternative-status application on file with USCIS.
  • Common employer misconceptions in this window:
    • "You lost TPS so we have to fire you today, September 3." No. The I-9 obligation attaches on September 10, not before.
    • "You need to give me a new EAD in the next 48 hours." No. Section 3 of the I-9 requires reverification, but the timing is measured from the expiration date, and reasonable notice is standard.
    • "I can't rehire you after September 10 even if you get a new work authorization." No. If you produce a valid work-authorization document, the employer completes Section 3 and reinstates.

Longer horizon

If you already have a pending I-130 or I-485, track your USCIS case status weekly through myUSCIS. If your priority date advances in the Visa Bulletin, the difference between filing your I-485 on time and missing the window can be years. If you are in removal proceedings, keep every court date; a single missed hearing produces an in absentia removal order that takes years to reopen if it can be reopened at all.

What to watch

The pillar above is written for the world that exists on the day you read it. That world can change, and we will re-publish this pillar within 48 hours of any material development. Three items to watch, in descending order of likelihood:

  • USCIS operational implementation. The August 12, 2026 USCIS update sets the current I-9 posture, but USCIS occasionally issues follow-on guidance that clarifies edge cases (pending renewals filed after October 30, 2025; pending I-485s in which A12/C19-derived EADs bridge to c9-derived EADs). Watch USCIS.gov and the USCIS newsroom for post-termination guidance.
  • Political redesignation. Prior administrations have redesignated TPS for El Salvador when country conditions warranted, most recently the January 2025 extension. The current administration's public posture is termination, not redesignation. That posture can change with a change in administration or with a discrete country-condition event (a major earthquake, an escalation of gang or state violence, a mass-displacement event). The probability of a near-term redesignation is low but not zero.
  • Congressional action. The American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6 in prior Congresses) and various stand-alone TPS bills have been reintroduced in successive Congresses without passage. A grand-bargain immigration package that includes TPS-to-LPR conversion for long-resident beneficiaries is a decade-long ask. Real, but not near-term.

What is not worth watching: another Ramos-style injunction. That case is dismissed. Mullin has foreclosed the primary theories plaintiffs used to obtain the Ramos injunction in the first place. Any advisor who tells you to "wait for the courts" in the next 30 days is giving you advice that is a year out of date.

The reason this pillar is long is because the paths are individualized. Here are the fact patterns that specifically warrant a consultation this month:

  • You have a U.S.-citizen spouse or a U.S.-citizen child who has turned 21, and you have not yet evaluated with immigration counsel whether adjustment of status inside the country or consular processing plus an I-601A waiver is the right path for your family.
  • You have ever traveled on Advance Parole, or you are considering it before September 9. Post-Delcarmen-Lara, the analysis is more nuanced than "AP fixes § 245(a)." You need someone who has read Delcarmen-Lara against your specific unlawful-presence history.
  • A family member filed an I-130 or a labor certification for you on or before April 30, 2001 - even if it went nowhere. The § 245(i) grandfather may be alive and you may not know it.
  • You have been the victim of a crime, of trafficking, or of family violence in the United States. VAWA, U, or T may be the path, and the interim protections these visas provide can bridge you across the termination date.
  • You are already in removal proceedings and your Master Calendar or Merits hearing is scheduled anywhere in the six months around September 9. Cancellation of removal, asylum, and adjustment defenses in Immigration Court require case-specific preparation that starts months in advance.
  • Your employer has raised the September 9 issue with you and is pushing for a decision or a termination before then. That conversation is not a solo assignment.
  • You have a criminal history of any kind - even a decades-old misdemeanor, even a deferred sentence you were told "wouldn't affect immigration." Every transition path has a criminal-history overlay. Do not assume a conviction blocks relief without a lawyer looking at it.

Novo Legal represents Salvadoran TPS holders in Denver, Seattle, Kent, and throughout Colorado and Washington. Every attorney and staff member at the firm is bilingual English-Spanish. We take the cases other firms turn down because they are complex, and we build the transition plans that move families toward a green card - or, when a green card is not available, to the safest available lawful status.

Schedule a consultation

Novo Legal Group serves clients across Colorado and Washington. Call (888) 746-5245 or the Denver office at (303) 335-0250.

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