[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 212 (Tuesday, November 3, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59336-59337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29394]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Immigration and Naturalization Service
[INS No. 1958-98; AG Order No. 2187-98]
RIN 1115-AE26
Extension of Designation of Sierra Leone Under Temporary
Protected Status Program
AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice extends, until November 3, 1999, the Attorney
General's designation of Sierra Leone under the Temporary Protected
Status (TPS) program provided for in section 244 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (Act). Accordingly, eligible aliens who are nationals
on Sierra Leone (or who have no nationality and who last habitually
resided in Sierra Leone) may re-register for TPS and are eligible for
an extension of employment authorization. This re-registration is
limited to persons who registered for the initial period of TPS, which
ends on November 3, 1998, or are eligible for late initial
registration.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This extension of designation is effective November 4,
1998, and will remain in effect until November 3, 1999. The re-
registration procedures become effective November 5, 1998, and will
remain in effect until December 2, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Valverde, Residence and Status
Services Branch, Adjudications, Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Room 3124, 425 I Street, NW., Washington, DC 20536, telephone (202)
514-3228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Subsection 308(b)(7) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act, Public Law 104-208, dated September 30,
1996, redesignated section 244A of the Act as section 244 of the Act.
Under this section, the Attorney General continues to be authorized to
grant TPS to eligible aliens who are nationals of a foreign state
designated by the Attorney General (or who have no nationality and last
habitually resided in that state). The Attorney General may designate a
state upon finding that the state is experiencing ongoing armed
conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary
conditions that prevent nationals or residents of the country from
returning in safety.
On November 4, 1997, the Attorney General designated Sierra Leone
for Temporary Protected Protected Status for a period of 12 months (62
FR 59736).
Based on a thorough review by the Departments of State and Justice
of all available evidence, the Attorney General finds that the ongoing
armed conflict in Sierra Leone continues and that, due such armed
conflict, requiring the return of nationals to Sierra Leone would pose
a serious threat to their personal safety.
This notice extends the designation of Sierra Leone under the
Temporary Protected Status program for an additional 12 months from
November 4, 1998, to November 3, 1999, in accordance with subsections
244(b)(3)(A) and (C) of the Act. This notice also describes the
procedures with which eligible aliens who are nationals of Sierra Leone
(or who have no nationality and who last habitually resided in Sierra
Leone) must comply in order to re-register for TPS.
In addition to timely re-registrations and late re-registrations
authorized by this notice's extension of the Sierra Leone TPS
designation, late initial registrations are possible for some Sierra
Leoneans under 8 CFR 244.2(f)(2). Such late initial registrants must
have been ``continuously physically present'' and have ``continuously
resided'' in the United States since November 4, 1997, must have had a
valid immigrant or nonimigrant status during the original registration
period or have had an application for such status pending during the
initial registration period, and must register no later than 30 days
from the expiration of such status.
An application for TPS does not preclude or adversely affect an
application for asylum or any other immigration benefit. Any national
of Sierra Leone who is otherwise eligible for TPS and has applied for,
or plans to apply for, asylum, but who has not yet been granted asylum
or withholding or removal, may also apply for TPS.
Nationals of Sierra Leone (or aliens having no nationality who last
habitually resided in Sierra Leone) who have been continuously
physically present and have continuously resided in the United States
since November 4, 1997, may re-register for TPS within the registration
period which begins on November 3, 1998, and ends on December 2, 1998.
This notice concerns ``extension of TPS designation,'' not
``redesignation of TPS.'' An extension of TPS designation does not
change the required dates of continuous residence and continuous
physical presence in the United States.
Nationals of Sierra Leone may re-register for TPS by filing an
Application for Temporary Protected Status, Form I-821. There is no
filing fee for the Form I-821 for re-registration. The Application for
Temporary Protected Status, Form I-821, must always be accompanied by
an Application for Employment Authorization, Form I-765, which is
required for data-gathering purposes. The fee for Form I-765 is one
hundred dollars ($100). TPS applicants who already have employment
authorization, including some asylum applicants, and those who have no
need for employment authorization, including minor children, must
complete and file the I-765, but should submit no fee. In all other
cases, the appropriate filing fee must accompany Form I-765, unless a
[[Page 59337]]
properly documented fee waiver request under 8 CFR 244.20 is submitted
to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Notice of Extension of Designation of Sierra Leone Under the
Temporary Protected Status Program
By the authority vested in me as Attorney General under section 244
of the Act (8 U.S.C. 1254), and pursuant to subsections 244(b)(3) (A)
and (C) of the Act, I have consulted with the appropriate agencies of
the Government concerning whether the conditions under which Sierra
Leone was designated for TPS continue to exist. As a result, I have
determined that the conditions for the original designation of
Temporary Protected Status for Sierra Leone continue to be met.
Accordingly, it is ordered as follows:
(1) The designation of Sierra Leone under subsection 244(b) of the
Act is extended for an additional 12-month period from November 4,
1998, to November 3, 1999.
(2) I estimate that there are approximately 4,000 nationals of
Sierra Leone (and aliens having no nationality who last habitually
resided in Sierra Leone) who have been granted Temporary Protected
Status and who are eligible for re-registration.
(3) In order to maintain current registration for Temporary
Protected Status, a national of Sierra Leone (or an alien having no
nationality who last habitually resided in Sierra Leone) who received a
grant of TPS during the initial period of designation, from November 4,
1997, to November 3, 1998, must comply with the re-registration
requirements contained in 8 CFR 244.17, which are described in
pertinent part in paragraphs (4) and (5) of this notice.
(4) A National of Sierra Leone (or an alien having no nationality
who last habitually resided in Sierra Leone) who previously has been
granted TPS, must re-register for TPS by filing a new Application for
Temporary Protected Status, Form I-821, along with an Application for
Employment Authorization, Form I-765, within the 30-day period
beginning on November 3, 1998, and end on December 2, 1998, in order to
be eligible for Temporary Protected Status during the period from
November 4, 1998, until November 3, 1999. Late re-registration may be
allowed when good cause is shown for a failure to timely re-register
pursuant to 8 CFR 244.17(c).
(5) A national of Sierra Leone (or an alien having no nationality
who last habitually resided in Sierra Leone) may submit a late initial
registration under 8 CFR 244.2(f)(2), if the alien has been
``continuously physically present'' and ``continuously resided'' in the
United States since November 4, 1997, had a valid immigrant or
nonimmigrant status during the original registration period or had an
application for such status pending during the initial registration
period, and registers no later than 30 days from the expiration of such
status.
(6) There is no fee for Form I-821 filed as part of the re-
registration application. Late initial, registrants must submit a Form
I-821 with the prescribed filing fee of fifty dollars ($50). A Form I-
765 must be filed with the Form I-821. If the alien requests employment
authorization for the extension period, the fee prescribed in 8 CFR
103.7(b)(1) or a properly documented fee waiver request pursuant to 8
CFR 244.20, must accompany the Form I-765. The prescribed fee for the
Form I-765 is one hundred dollars ($100). An alien who does not request
employment authorization must nonetheless file Form I-765 along with
Form I-821, but in such cases no fee will be charged.
(7) Pursuant to subsection 244(b)(3)(A) of the Act, the Attorney
General will review, at least 60 days before November 3, 1999, the
designation of Sierra Leone under the TPS program to determine whether
the conditions for designation continue to be met. Notice of that
determination, including the basis for the determination, will be
published in the Federal Register.
(8) Information concerning the TPS program for nationals of Sierra
Leone (and aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in
Sierra Leone) will be available at local Immigration and Naturalization
Service offices upon publication of this notice.
Dated: October 29, 1998.
Janet Reno,
Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 98-29394 Filed 10-29-98; 2:42 pm]
BILLING CODE 4410-10-M