[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 166 (Thursday, August 27, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45864-45865]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23035]



[[Page 45864]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Immigration and Naturalization Service
[INS No. 1940-98; AG Order No. 2175-98]
RIN 1115-AE 26


Extension of Designation of Montserrat Under Temporary Protected 
Status Program

AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice extends, until August 27, 1999, the Attorney 
General's designation of Montserrat under the Temporary Protected 
Status (TPS) program provided for in section 244 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act, as amended (Act). Accordingly, eligible aliens who are 
nationals of Montserrat (or who have no nationality and who last 
habitually resided in Montserrat) may re-register for TPS and are 
eligible for an extension of employment authorization. This re-
registration is limited to persons who register for the initial period 
of TPS, which ends on August 27, 1998.

EFFECTIVE DATES: This extension of designation is effective August 28, 
1998, and will remain in effect until August 27, 1999. The re-
registration procedures become effective August 27, 1998, and will 
remain in effect until September 25, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
George Raftery, Residence and Status Branch, Adjudications, Immigration 
and Naturalization Service, Room 3214, 425 I Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20536, telephone (202) 305-3199.

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 certain other extraordinary and 
temporary conditions that prevent nationals or residents of the country 
from returning in safety,
    On August 28, 1997, the Attorney General designated Montserrat for 
Temporary Protected Status for a period of 12 months (62 FR 45685).
    Based on a thorough review by the Departments of State and Justice 
of all available evidence, the Attorney General finds that the 
environmental disaster in Montserrat continues and that, due to such 
environmental disaster, requiring the return of nationals to Montserrat 
would pose a serious threat to their personal safety.
    This notice extends the designation of Montserrat under the 
Temporary Protected Status program for an additional 12 months, 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 Montserrat (or who have no nationality and who last 
habitually resided in Montserrat) must comply in order to reregister 
for TPS.
    In addition to timely re-registrations and late re-registrations 
authorized by this notice's extension of Montserrat's TPS designation, 
late initial registrations are possible for some Montserratians under 8 
CFR 244.2(f)(2). Such late initial registrants must have been 
``continuously physically present'' in the United States since August 
28, 1997, must have ``continuously resided'' in the United States since 
August 22, 1997, must have had a valid immigrant or nonimmigrant 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 or 
the denial of the application for such status. Any national of 
Montserrat who has already applied for, or plans to apply for, asylum 
but whose asylum application has not yet been approved may also apply 
for TPS. An application for TPS does not preclude or adversely affect 
an application for asylum or any other immigration benefit.
    Nationals of Montserrat (or aliens having no nationality who last 
habitually resided in Montserrat) who have been continuously physically 
present in the United States since August 28, 1997, and have 
continuously resided in the United States since August 22, 1997, may 
re-register for TPS within the registration period which begins on 
August 27, 1998, and ends on September 25, 1998.
    This notice concerns an ``extension of TPS designation,'' not a 
``redesignation of TPS.'' An extension of TPS designation does not 
change the eligibility requirements for TPS including, most 
importantly, the required dates of continuous residence and continuous 
physical presence in the United States.
    Nationals of Montserrat may register for TPS by filing an 
Application for Temporary Protected Status, Form I-821, which requires 
a filing fee (instructions regarding the payment of fees for re-
registration are contained in paragraph 5 below). 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. Those TPS applicants who already 
have employment authorization, including some asylum applicants, and 
those who have no need for employment authorization, including minor 
children, need pay only the I-821 fee, although they must complete and 
file the I-765. In all other cases, the appropriate filing fee must 
accompany Form I-765, unless a properly documented fee waiver request 
is submitted under 8 CFR 244.20 to the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service.

Notice of Extension of Designation of Montserrat 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 had consultations with the appropriate 
agencies of the Government concerning whether the conditions that made 
Montserrat eligible for designation under the TPS program continue to 
exist. Based on these consultations, I have determined that the 
conditions for the original designation of Montserrat under the 
Temporary Protected Status program continue to be met. Accordingly, it 
is ordered as follows:
    (1) The designation of Montserrat under subsection 244(b) of the 
Act is extended for an additional 12-month period from August 28, 1998 
to August 27, 1999.
    (2) I estimate that there are approximately 300 nationals of 
Montserrat (and aliens having no nationality who last habitually 
resided in Montserrat) 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 Montserrat (or an alien having no 
nationality who last habitually resided in Montserrat) who received a 
grant of TPS during the initial period of designation, from August 28, 
1997, to August 27, 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.

[[Page 45865]]

    (4) A national of Montserrat (or an alien having no nationality who 
last habitually resided in Montserrat) who previously has been granted 
TPS, must re-register 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 August 
27, 1998, and ending on September 25, 1998, in order to be eligible for 
Temporary Protected Status during the period from August 28, 1998, 
until August 27, 1999. Late re-registration applications will be 
allowed pursuant to 8 CFR 244.17(c).
    (5) There is no fee for Form I-821 filed as part of the re-
registration application. 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), currently seventy 
dollars ($70), or a properly documented fee waiver request pursuant to 
8 CFR 244.20, must accompany the Form I-765. 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.
    (6) Pursuant to subsection 244(b)(3)(A) of the Act, the Attorney 
General will review, at least 60 days before August 27, 1999, the 
designation of Montserrat 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.
    (7) Information concerning the TPS program for nationals of 
Montserrat (and aliens having no nationality who last habitually 
resided in Montserrat) will be available at local Immigration and 
Naturalization Service offices upon publication of this notice.

    Dated: August 21, 1998.
Janet Reno,
Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 98-23035 Filed 8-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-10-M