What happened, in one sentence
On January 17, 2025 the U.S. government published an 18-month extension of El Salvador's TPS in the Federal Register, from March 10, 2025 to September 9, 2026. That date has passed and no new decision has been published.
The law anticipates that silence. The text is 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3): the Secretary must review and publish a decision at least 60 days before expiration, and if he does not determine that the country no longer meets the conditions, “the period of designation is extended for an additional period of 6 months (or, in the discretion of the Attorney General, a period of 12 or 18 months)”.
What that means for your specific case is a legal question, and not one we answer. This page is only about the Salvadoran paperwork. For your immigration situation, talk to a licensed U.S. immigration attorney or a non-profit community organization — and be wary of anyone promising you an outcome.
Which documents people are being told to gather
The organizations supporting the Salvadoran community repeat the same list: a copy of the work permit, the TPS approval, the passport, and birth and marriage certificates. Not because you must file them tomorrow, but because getting them later, in a hurry, is what costs.
Of that list, the only thing that is not in your home or in a U.S. office is what comes from El Salvador. That is what this page solves.
The fact that can save you the most money: USCIS does not require an apostille
The USCIS Policy Manual states, verbatim, that any document containing a foreign language “must be accompanied by a full English language translation” and that “the translator must certify that the translation is complete and accurate, and that the translator is competent to translate”. It does not mention an apostille or legalization.
Many people pay for the whole chain — certificate, apostille, express shipping — for a filing that only asked for the certificate with a certified translation. Before paying, ask whoever is requesting the document what exactly they require. An apostille is genuinely needed for other things (a court, a registry, a university), but you do not buy it just in case.
What it really costs
The Salvadoran government fee: $35.00 for a birth certificate requested from abroad. That is the RNPN's published rate on the government portal, and you can pay it directly with no intermediary: a third party may request the certificate online, no power of attorney is needed, and the published turnaround is 2 hours from form submission.
Our fee is separate and always shown apart from the government fee. We do not charge for what you can do yourself: we charge when the record does not appear online, when it has to be found in the municipality's paper book, when the name does not match, or when you need the complete package ready to file in the U.S.
The typical mistake in weeks like these
Waiting for the announcement to start. The Salvadoran paperwork does not depend on what Washington decides: you can request it today and it will still be good tomorrow, whatever the announcement says. An RNPN birth certificate has no expiration date — the official listing says so. What does run out is the time you have to get it calmly.
And the second: paying someone who cannot do what they promise. Every TPS advisory carries the same warning: beware of anyone presenting themselves as a *notario* and charging for immigration advice without being an attorney. We do not give immigration advice and we will not: we obtain Salvadoran documents, at a published price.
The two honest routes
Yourself: go to simple.sv, find the RNPN birth-certificate service and request it. It is $35 and you need no one. Before paying, check for free at consulta.rnpn.gob.sv whether your record is loaded — you can search by full name and date of birth, without a DUI number.
Us: if the record does not appear, if the municipality only has it on paper, if the name is spelled differently from your passport, or if you want the complete file ready to file in the U.S. with the certified translation included. That is the work we charge for, and we tell you beforehand whether your case needs it.
A real case
The most common case these weeks: someone who has lived in the United States for twenty years looks for their birth certificate and finds only a 2004 copy, in Spanish, untranslated. The certificate did not expire — RNPN certificates do not expire — but what they hold is a photocopy, not a current certification. A new one costs $35 and a few hours; the certified translation is a separate step, better solved in advance than on the day it is requested.
Frequently asked questions
- Did El Salvador's TPS end on September 9, 2026?
- That was the end date of the 18-month extension published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2025. What happens next depends on a determination by the Secretary of Homeland Security; the statute (8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)) provides that if no determination is published finding the country no longer meets the conditions, the designation is extended for 6 more months, or 12 or 18 at the Secretary's discretion. What applies to your case is for an immigration attorney to say; we do not give immigration advice.
- Do I need to apostille my birth certificate for USCIS?
- The USCIS Policy Manual requires a full English translation with the translator's certification. It does not mention an apostille or legalization. Ask whoever is requesting the document what exactly they require before paying for the whole chain: an apostille is genuinely needed for other uses, but not for all.
- Can my birth certificate expire while I wait for the announcement?
- No. The RNPN's official listing states that the certificate obtained has no expiration. Some procedures do require a recent one — for example a first-time DUI at the consulate asks for one issued within the past year — but that is a requirement of that procedure, not an expiration of the document.
- Can you help me with TPS?
- No. We are not U.S. immigration attorneys and we do not give immigration advice. What we do is obtain Salvadoran documents — birth and marriage certificates, police records, apostilles — at a published price and without you travelling. For your immigration case, look for a licensed U.S. attorney or a non-profit community organization.