Ukraine TPS Status: October 19, 2026 End Date, Work Permits and Next Steps

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukraine is scheduled to run through October 19, 2026, and as of October 10 the Department of Homeland Security has not published a decision to extend or end it. The Federal Register shows no Ukraine TPS notice since the January 17, 2025 extension, and nothing on public inspection. USCIS’s Ukraine page, last updated September 3, still lists October 19, 2026 as the designation end date.

That silence matters because of a deadline written into the law. The TPS statute requires DHS to review a designation at least 60 days before it expires, which for Ukraine was August 20, 2026. If DHS does not make that determination, INA section 244(b)(3)(C) says the designation “is extended for an additional period of 6 months.” Six months past October 19 would be April 19, 2027. DHS used exactly this rule for Lebanon in May 2026 and published a notice saying so. It has not published one for Ukraine.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on October 2, citing two unnamed sources, that the administration had made a preliminary decision to extend Ukraine’s TPS, with the length still unknown. A September 22 letter from 31 senators asked Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for an 18-month extension and redesignation. Neither is an official decision. Our news report on the administration’s deliberations before October 19 has the background. This page tracks the official status and is updated when DHS acts.

What Ukraine TPS holders should do now

The practical steps are the same whatever DHS announces. None of them requires a new filing today, because no re-registration window is open.

1. Gather your proof of status. Keep your Form I-797 TPS approval notice, your current EAD (category A12 or C19), any pending Form I-765 receipt, and any USCIS notice extending your EAD to October 19, 2026.
2. Print the official pages. Save a dated copy of the USCIS Ukraine TPS page and the January 17, 2025 Federal Register notice (90 FR 5936). If DHS publishes a new notice, print that too.
3. Check your USCIS online account. USCIS sends EAD extension notices by mail and to myUSCIS accounts. Make sure your mailing address is current.
4. Hold off on international travel unless you already have travel authorization and have spoken with a lawyer. Re-entry during an unsettled designation is risky.
5. Ask a lawyer or DOJ-accredited representative whether asylum, a family petition, an employment-based case or re-parole fits your situation. Do it now, not after October 19.

Watch for notarios and unlicensed preparers who claim they can file a “TPS renewal” for a fee. There is nothing to renew until DHS publishes a notice that opens re-registration.

Which work permits are valid through October 19, 2026

USCIS issues new Ukraine TPS EADs with an October 19, 2026 expiration date. For people whose renewal is stuck, USCIS is sending notices that extend certain expired cards to the same date. You can show the card together with the notice to an employer as proof of identity and work authorization.

The old general rule that a timely renewal kept a card valid for up to 540 days no longer protects new filings. DHS ended most automatic EAD extensions in October 2025, so TPS cards are now extended by a country-specific Federal Register notice or a USCIS notice, as here.

What happens on October 19, 2026

Three outcomes are possible, and each produces different paperwork. The law also limits how fast a termination can take effect: under INA 244(b)(3)(B), a termination cannot take effect earlier than 60 days after its Federal Register notice is published. A termination announced on October 15 could not take effect before mid-December.

The third outcome is not hypothetical. El Salvador’s designation passed its September 9 end date with no Federal Register notice. USCIS then posted an alert saying Salvadorans with TPS “retain protection including work authorization” until an announcement. Our El Salvador TPS status page shows how that has worked in practice. Holders kept their status, but employers and agencies were left reading a short web alert instead of a dated notice.

Courts are unlikely to slow a termination. In Mullin v. Doe, decided June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court held 6-3 that the TPS statute bars courts from reviewing non-constitutional challenges to TPS terminations. DHS has since ended designations for Haiti, Syria, South Sudan and others.

If DHS reopens re-registration: forms and fees

An extension notice would set a new re-registration window, usually 60 days. Current holders would file Form I-821, and anyone who wants a new card would add Form I-765. Both can be filed online. Fees under H.R. 1 change for filings postmarked on or after October 16, 2026: the TPS fee on Form I-821 rises from $510 to $520, an initial TPS EAD rises from $560 to $570, and a TPS EAD renewal stays at $280. Check the USCIS fee schedule before filing, because the H.R. 1 amounts sit on top of the regular form fees and some cannot be waived.

Missing a re-registration window without good cause is a ground to withdraw TPS. A late filing has to explain the delay under 8 CFR 244.17(b).

U4U parole is a separate clock

Many Ukrainians came through Uniting for Ukraine (U4U), a humanitarian parole program, and some hold both parole and TPS. Parole expires person by person, usually two years after arrival, regardless of what happens to TPS. Re-parole is requested on Form I-131 and is discretionary. USCIS says it is reviewing Ukrainian re-parole requests case by case with added vetting. See our report on U4U and humanitarian parole processing.

Parole-based work permits use category C11, not the TPS categories A12 or C19. If you hold both, keep track of which card you show your employer and when each expires.

Longer-term options beyond TPS

TPS does not lead to a green card on its own. The routes people use instead depend on their facts:

• Asylum (Form I-589). Asylum normally must be requested within one year of arrival. USCIS treats holding TPS as an extraordinary circumstance that “stops the clock” on that deadline, if the year had not already run out (8 CFR 208.4(a)(5)(iv)). File within a reasonable time after TPS ends.
• Family petitions. A spouse, parent or adult child who is a U.S. citizen may be able to file for you. Whether you can adjust status inside the U.S. on Form I-485 depends on how you entered.
• Employment-based cases. H-1B, EB-2 and EB-3 need a sponsoring employer and the usual eligibility.

Our guide to TPS-to-green-card pathways after the 2026 Supreme Court ruling explains which of these work for people who have lived in the U.S. on TPS. Bills in Congress would extend protection for Ukrainians or let them adjust status, but none has passed.

Sudan shares the same October 19 date

Sudan’s TPS designation also ends October 19, 2026, also without a published decision, and its work permit notices run to the same date. The qualifying card dates are different. See our Sudan TPS status page for that list.

Frequently Asked Questions