US visa to be required among Pinoys visiting CNMI
GARAPAN, Saipan – Filipinos will be required to secure a US visa to enter the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) as tourists by June 1 as the United States federal government takes over CNMI immigration.
Currently, Filipino tourists, including nurses taking the National Council of Licensure Examination (NCLEX), do not need a US visa to enter the CNMI. They only need a CNMI visitor’s entry permit.
The estimated 8,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the CNMI will still be allowed to remain in the US territory for up to two years after June 1, 2009 or until the expiration of their CNMI worker’s entry permit, whichever comes first.
After that period, their immigration status will have to be converted into a transitional worker classification.
Although a US territory, the CNMI controls its own labor and immigration system.
But by June 1, the CNMI’s immigration will be controlled by the US federal government due to a law signed by President George W. Bush in May 2008.
This means the policy requiring a US visa for tourists (B1 or B2) coming from the Philippines and other foreign countries wishing to enter the US mainland and other US territories like Guam will also be applied to the CNMI.
Alex Hartman, immigration policy adviser at the US Department of Homeland Security, told GMANews.TV that Filipinos who have valid US tourist visas (B1 or B2) can travel to the CNMI even after June 1.
Those who want to work in the CNMI after June 1 will have to secure a US work visa depending on one’s category, Hartman added.
Hartman and other US DHS officials made a presentation about the CNMI-Guam Visa Waiver Program on Friday afternoon at Saipan’s American Memorial Park Visitor’s Center.
In his presentation, Hartman identified 12 countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter the CNMI and Guam without a US visa under the Guam-CNMI program effective June 1 when section 702 (a) of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 starts.
The Act puts CNMI immigration under US control, and provides for the first CNMI non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives, who was sworn into office on Jan. 6.
Philippines not included
The US visa-exempt countries are: Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Hong Kong.
Citizens of these countries would be eligible to stay in the CNMI or Guam for 45 days, up from the previous regulated 15. Their travel to the CNMI and Guam are strictly for tourism and not for employment.
Citizens from the Philippines, according to Hartman, are not exempt from the visa waiver requirement based on two key measures: economic benefit to the CNMI and security concerns. He said most of the Filipinos who come to the CNMI are contract workers and not tourists.
The CNMI and Guam, however, have been asking the federal government to also include China and Russia to the list of exempt countries because of the huge economic benefits that citizens of these countries provide, especially to the CNMI.
Hartman said the two countries are not included in the program because of political, security and law enforcement concerns.
Lynn Knight, president of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands (HANMI), said the CNMI will lose 20 percent of its tourism income once Chinese and Russian tourists stop coming to the islands because of the US visa requirement.
“For every six months that we don’t have these tourists, we lose millions (in income)," said Knight.
Most of those who attended the presentation expressed support to the inclusion of Chinese and Russian tourists to the CNMI-Guam visa waiver program.
Hartman said the regulations have been drafted in such a way as to give room for additional countries to be included on the visa waiver list, and Chinese and Russian tourists can be included in the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program once additional security measures are undertaken.
He then encouraged CNMI residents to submit comments on the regulations within 60 days from its publication on Jan. 16 (Washington, D.C. time). The comments should be addressed to the US Department of Homeland Security.
In December 2007, thousands of Filipinos in the CNMI led a unity march in support of a bill which later became the law that puts CNMI immigration under US federal control. - GMANews.TV
Currently, Filipino tourists, including nurses taking the National Council of Licensure Examination (NCLEX), do not need a US visa to enter the CNMI. They only need a CNMI visitor’s entry permit.
The estimated 8,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the CNMI will still be allowed to remain in the US territory for up to two years after June 1, 2009 or until the expiration of their CNMI worker’s entry permit, whichever comes first.
After that period, their immigration status will have to be converted into a transitional worker classification.
Although a US territory, the CNMI controls its own labor and immigration system.
But by June 1, the CNMI’s immigration will be controlled by the US federal government due to a law signed by President George W. Bush in May 2008.
This means the policy requiring a US visa for tourists (B1 or B2) coming from the Philippines and other foreign countries wishing to enter the US mainland and other US territories like Guam will also be applied to the CNMI.
Alex Hartman, immigration policy adviser at the US Department of Homeland Security, told GMANews.TV that Filipinos who have valid US tourist visas (B1 or B2) can travel to the CNMI even after June 1.
Those who want to work in the CNMI after June 1 will have to secure a US work visa depending on one’s category, Hartman added.
Hartman and other US DHS officials made a presentation about the CNMI-Guam Visa Waiver Program on Friday afternoon at Saipan’s American Memorial Park Visitor’s Center.
In his presentation, Hartman identified 12 countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter the CNMI and Guam without a US visa under the Guam-CNMI program effective June 1 when section 702 (a) of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 starts.
The Act puts CNMI immigration under US control, and provides for the first CNMI non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives, who was sworn into office on Jan. 6.
Philippines not included
The US visa-exempt countries are: Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Hong Kong.
Citizens of these countries would be eligible to stay in the CNMI or Guam for 45 days, up from the previous regulated 15. Their travel to the CNMI and Guam are strictly for tourism and not for employment.
Citizens from the Philippines, according to Hartman, are not exempt from the visa waiver requirement based on two key measures: economic benefit to the CNMI and security concerns. He said most of the Filipinos who come to the CNMI are contract workers and not tourists.
The CNMI and Guam, however, have been asking the federal government to also include China and Russia to the list of exempt countries because of the huge economic benefits that citizens of these countries provide, especially to the CNMI.
Hartman said the two countries are not included in the program because of political, security and law enforcement concerns.
Lynn Knight, president of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands (HANMI), said the CNMI will lose 20 percent of its tourism income once Chinese and Russian tourists stop coming to the islands because of the US visa requirement.
“For every six months that we don’t have these tourists, we lose millions (in income)," said Knight.
Most of those who attended the presentation expressed support to the inclusion of Chinese and Russian tourists to the CNMI-Guam visa waiver program.
Hartman said the regulations have been drafted in such a way as to give room for additional countries to be included on the visa waiver list, and Chinese and Russian tourists can be included in the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program once additional security measures are undertaken.
He then encouraged CNMI residents to submit comments on the regulations within 60 days from its publication on Jan. 16 (Washington, D.C. time). The comments should be addressed to the US Department of Homeland Security.
In December 2007, thousands of Filipinos in the CNMI led a unity march in support of a bill which later became the law that puts CNMI immigration under US federal control. - GMANews.TV
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