USCIS Alert: TPS Work Authorization Extended for Somalia & Burma Amid 2026 Litigation

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued back-to-back short-term extensions of employment authorization for Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries from both Somalia and Burma (Myanmar). These extensions follow the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2026 decision permitting the Department of Homeland Security to proceed with terminating certain TPS designations, while federal district court orders continue to require automatic EAD extensions for eligible beneficiaries who filed renewal applications before October 30, 2025. For Somalia TPS holders, EADs with original expiration dates of March 17, 2023, September 17, 2024, and March 17, 2026 are now automatically extended through August 10, 2026. For Burma TPS holders, EADs originally expiring on November 25, 2022, May 25, 2024, and November 25, 2025 are valid through August 7, 2026. USCIS has emphasized that additional guidance will be issued as litigation evolves, making it essential for affected employees and their employers to monitor agency announcements closely. In a separate development with potential implications for multinational employers, Colombia is experiencing heightened scrutiny and extended delays in work visa processing ahead of the country's August 7 presidential transition. Statutory 30-day adjudication windows are being exceeded by several weeks, and authorities have begun declaring some applications inadmissible or treating them as withdrawn despite complete documentation submissions. In some cases, applicants have been instructed to refile under different visa categories than originally selected. Employers with operations in Colombia or workers sponsored there should factor these delays into onboarding timelines and initiate immigration processes earlier than usual. The uncertainty is expected to persist as the incoming Colombian administration establishes its own immigration policies and operational procedures. While these updates primarily affect TPS beneficiaries and Colombia-based employees rather than EB-3 green card applicants directly, employers navigating employment-based immigration across multiple countries should remain alert to the broader regulatory environment. USCIS's pattern of issuing brief, litigation-driven extensions underscores the importance of maintaining current employment authorization records and verifying EAD validity dates regularly.