[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]


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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.

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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]
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