Department of Homeland Security January 26, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is suspending certain regulatory requirements for F-1 nonimmigrant students whose country of citizenship is Haiti, regardless of country of birth (or individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti), and who are experiencing severe economic hardship as a direct result of the current crisis in Haiti. The Secretary is taking action to provide relief to these Haitian students who are in lawful F-1 nonimmigrant student status so the students may request employment authorization on the date of publication of this notice, work an increased number of hours while school is in session, and reduce their course load while continuing to maintain their F-1 nonimmigrant student status. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will deem an F-1 nonimmigrant student granted employment authorization by means of this notice to be engaged in a ``full course of study'' for the duration of the employment authorization, if the nonimmigrant student satisfies the minimum course load requirement described in this notice.

Through this notice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is extending the designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, beginning on February 4, 2023, and ending on August 3, 2024. This extension allows existing TPS beneficiaries to retain TPS through August 3, 2024, so long as they continue to meet the eligibility requirements for TPS. Existing TPS beneficiaries who wish to extend their status through August 3, 2024, must re-register during the 60-day re-registration period described in this notice. The Secretary is also redesignating Haiti for TPS. The redesignation of Haiti allows additional Haitian nationals (and individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) who have been continuously residing in the United States since November 6, 2022, to apply for TPS for the first time during the initial registration period described under the redesignation information in this notice. In addition to demonstrating continuous residence in the United States since November 6, 2022, and meeting other eligibility criteria, applicants for TPS under this designation must demonstrate that they have been continuously physically present in the United States since February 4, 2023, the effective date of this redesignation of Haiti for TPS.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission seeks comments concerning the use of a form to collect data for the development and continuation of the National Fire Department Registry.