USA Green Card Immigration Blog

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made a proclamation stating that a parole-in-place status will be granted to specific foreign nationals in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). This interim status is made available to those foreign nationals who do not posses umbrella permits and whose work permits lapse before they can claim the new visa categories under the federal immigration laws.

Some employers and their foreign national employees had intended to apply for CNMI-Only Transitional Worker visas soon after the Nov. 2009 when the transition period began. Subsequently they also did not apply for the umbrella permits that cover the two year transition period.

However, the nonimmigrant category was made unavailable by a court ruling that month. Since there existed a gap between the expiry of the present CNMI work permit and the new CNMI-Only Transitional Worker status, few foreign nationals faced the risk of loss of their legal immigration status.

The same problem was faced by foreign nationals with CNMI Investor permits also. There has been a gap between the expiry of the CNMI investor permit and the new CNMI-Only E-2 Investor status.

Commencing from November 28, 2009, nearly all provisions of the federal immigration law have been extended to the CNMI by the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA.) Foreign nationals in the CNMI were considered to be present in the United States and put through federal immigration law as of Nov. 28, 2009.

The Consolidated Natural Resources Act has been put into effect by the USCIS in view of implementing the Congressional intent. The USCIS will thereby take initiatives to reduce inimical economic effects on the CNMI and promote economic and business growth in the CNMI in the future.

Immigrant applicants who want to apply for parole-in-place are obliged to submit a filled G-325 (Biographic Information), 3 passport-style photos, a copy of the unexpired entry permit, a copy of the photo page of their valid passport, a statement from their employer that they will have continued employment.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration services (USCIS) published an interim final rule in the Federal Register in early November, to create a new category of visa classification called the ‘Transitional Worker’. According to Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA) a transitional worker is an alien worker who is currently ineligible for another classification under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and who performs services or labor for an employer in CNMI.

The CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program is part of several steps taken to implement the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA), expanding U.S. immigration law in the CNMI. This non-immigrant visa category has two admission codes CW-1 and CW-2 for the principal transitional worker and the dependents respectively. Nonresidents lawfully present in the CNMI and those abroad will be eligible for the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program.

Nonresidents lawfully present in the CNMI must be petitioned for by their employer and for them to be eligible for the transitional worker visa. (The employer should be engaged in legal business under federal or CNMI law.) This petition must be filed using Form I-129CW, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker in CNMI with the required fee of $320. Under certain circumstances wherein the employer is unable to pay the fee, it may be waived. However, the employer must prove he can pay the employee his wage.

Once a worker acquires the Transitional Worker visa, he can travel to and from CNMI, provided he has the visa required for readmission. The transitional period begins on November 28th 2009 and will be on till December 31st 2014. After this period, the transitional worker visa will no longer be valid. After this, such workers must change to another status under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

This interim final rule introducing the Transitional Worker Program will assist the orderly changeover of workers’ status, from the permit system to the Immigration Law.