Aliens Can Change Status W/O Leaving CNMI

Local
Monday, December 20, 2010

Aliens can change status without leaving CNMI

By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued on Tuesday a policy memorandum allowing aliens to obtain a non-immigrant status in the CNMI without having to leave the islands.

The policy memorandum takes effect immediately.

David Gulick, district director of USCIS Honolulu District 26, said the grant of status policy memo would affect mostly those who are seeking R status, along with H1B, H2B, and H3 status. R-1 is for temporary religious workers, while R-2 is for the spouse/children of an R-1.

“These are the main groups that should be taking advantage of that policy. That will save people some trips; they don't need to travel outside to get their status,” Gulick said at a news briefing on Saturday about the policy memo.

In most cases, an individual in the U.S. without a non-immigrant status needs to leave the country in order to obtain a non-immigrant classification.

But the USCIS has made exceptions for individuals in the CNMI with CNMI permits or parole authorization.

“If you are a CNMI worker with a valid CNMI work permit or parole status, immigration officials may consider you lawfully present in the CNMI for the purposes of obtaining a grant of initial grant of status,” the USCIS said.

The USCIS is one of the component agencies of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security which is the lead agency overseeing the federal takeover of CNMI immigration.

Those who are eligible for an initial grant of status are those who are lawfully present in the CNMI, were present in the CNMI before Nov. 28, 2009, do not currently hold a non-immigrant classification, and are admissible.

The policy memo applies to and binds all USCIS employees who adjudicate petitions and applications for non-immigrant status.

It adds Chapter 36.4 to the Adjudicator's Field Manual, “Waivers of Inadmissibility and Grants of Status for Certain Aliens Seeking Nonimmigrant Status in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”

USCIS said allowing for the grant of nonimmigrant status to eligible aliens who are physically present in the CNMI will help encourage these aliens and their employers to seek an appropriate, federal immigration status for themselves and their employees.

“This (policy memo) is consistent with congressional intent to promote as rapid and smooth a transition as possible from former CNMI statuses to federally based statuses,” the federal agency added.

More information is available at http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2010/December/cnmi-status.pdf.