Kosins Law Office Blog & News

Marcus Kosins Jr. at the USCIS Application Support Center in Garapan, CNMI.

On December 2, 2009, David Gulick, District Director of USCIS, announced that henceforth the USCIS would on a case-by-case basis grant two-year parole status to four groups of individuals in the CNMI.

The four groups are (1) CNMI permanent residents, (2) immediate relatives of CNMI permanent residents, (3) spouses and children of deceased CNMI permanent residents, and (4) immediate relatives of citizens of Freely Associated States (the later being citizens of Palau, Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, including Yap, Chuuk, Kosrae and Pohnpei).

Congresswoman Bordallo announced yesterday that the legislative hearing on the bill H.R. 3770 that was scheduled to take place on October 22, 2009 was postponed “until a later date”. The bill, originally sponsored by Bordallo, called for a one-year delay of full application of U.S. immigration laws in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The postponement came in light of the ruling by DHS that Russian and Chinese tourists will be allowed visa-free into the CNMI after November 28, 2009. The visitors will enter under the “parole” authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security and will be able to stay in the Northern Marianas up to 45 days. Thus, the new Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program that is scheduled to go in effect on November 28, 2009 is not likely to be delayed.