On May 12, 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghanistan will be terminated effective July 14, 2025. The current TPS designation for Afghanistan is scheduled to expire on May 20, 2025. This announcement is the latest in the current administration’s push to roll back immigration benefits for foreign nationals living and working in the United States. Noem stated that permitting Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is “contrary to the national interest of the United States.”

Quick Hits

• On May 12, 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the termination of TPS for Afghanistan, effective July 14, 2025, as part of the administration’s efforts to reduce immigration benefits.
• DHS deemed that the TPS designation, initially granted in 2022 due to the Taliban takeover, was now unnecessary because returning Afghan nationals would not face significant threats to their safety.
• Despite Afghanistan’s “Level 4: Do Not Travel” status due to severe security risks, the TPS termination notice allows TPS beneficiaries 60 days to adjust, with work authorization extended until July 14, 2025.

Background

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created the TPS designation to provide temporary status to foreign nationals living in the United States who are unable to return to their home countries due to an event or circumstance present in that country. During a designated TPS period, TPS beneficiaries:

• “Are not removable from the United States
• Can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD)
• May be granted travel authorization.”

Afghanistan received its TPS designation in 2022 after the United States withdrew from the country and the Taliban took over. By removing Afghanistan’s TPS designation, DHS has determined that the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan “does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.”

Secretary Noem cites the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’s (USCIS) review of the conditions in Afghanistan as the impetus of this decision, along with a consultation with the U.S. Department of State. For those planning to travel to Afghanistan, the DOS has designated Afghanistan as a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” country. This latest update was made on January 13, 2025, “to reflect the security environment, immigration information, and availability of medical care.” [Emphasis omitted.] Afghanistan’s designation as a “Level 4” country is specifically due to “civil unrest, crime, terrorism, risk of wrongful detention, kidnapping, and limited health facilities.” [Emphasis omitted.]

Practical Impact

While the initial TPS designation for Afghanistan was set to expire on May 20, 2025, DHS regulations require that any recission of TPS benefits be accompanied by a 60-day notice period. The TPS termination for Afghanistan was published in the Federal Register on May 13, 2025, resulting in an effective termination date of TPS benefits for Afghan nationals, including work authorization, on July 14, 2025.

The Federal Register notice specifically confirms that Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) granted to Afghan TPS beneficiaries also will be automatically extended through this 60-day notice period. This signifies that employers may accept, for the purposes of I-9 verification, any TPS EADs presented by Afghan beneficiaries with expiration dates of November 20, 2023, or May 20, 2025, as valid through July 14, 2025.