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UPDATED: JANUARY 2011

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OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS CITZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION STATUS TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS)

Description: “Temporary protected status (TPS)” is a temporary immigration status granted under federal law at 8 U.S.C. 1254a to aliens who are physically present in the United States and who are from certain countries designated by the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security as unsafe to accept their return because of ongoing environmental disasters or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. At present, the following countries have TPS designation: Angola, Burundi, El Salvador, Honduras, Liberia, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Sudan. [A list of countries designated for TPS is located at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) (formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service-INS), website, at: http://www.uscis.gov]

NOTE: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has designated Haiti for Temporary Protected Status beginning January 21, 2010 and ending January 18, 2011. TPS will apply only to those Haitians who were in the United States on or before January 12, 2010, even if such individuals were illegally in the United States. TPS protects these individuals from deportation until January 18, 2011 and allows them to work in the U.S. Haitians who attempt to travel into the U.S. after January 12, 2010, will not be eligible for TPS.

Policy: Immigrants who have been granted Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) may be eligible for Medicaid, Family Health Plus (FHP) or Child Health Plus (CHPlus) based on their status as permanently residing in the United States under color of law (PRUCOL), if they meet such programs’ requirements.

Immigrants who have applied for TPS may also be considered to be PRUCOL and may thus be eligible for Medicaid, Family Health Plus or Child Health Plus, if otherwise eligible.

References: ADMs 04 ADM-7

GISs 10 MA/019 10 MA/005 08 MA/009

Interpretation: Immigrants Granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS): These immigrants should be treated as PRUCOL for purposes of their eligibility for Medicaid, FHP or CHPlus “Persons granted TPS are authorized to remain in the United States for a specific limited period; the U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security can extend it for a further specified period. Prior to 1990, a similar status called “Extended Voluntary Departure” was used in the same way to provide relief to