subject: Uscis Grants Parole-in-place Status To Certain Foreign Nationals In The Cnmi [print this page] It has been announced by the U.SIt has been announced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that a grant for a parole-in-place status will be granted to some foreign nationals in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Foreign nationals who do not hold umbrella permits and whose permits run out before they could acquire their new visas under the federal immigration laws can benefit from this interim status.
As soon as the transition period began in Nov.2009, certain employers and their foreign national employees planned to apply for CNMI-Only Transitional Worker visas and hence did not apply to federal immigration law for their umbrella permits that cover the two year transition period. But this nonimmigrant category was later made nonexistent by a court ruling that month.
The nonexistence of the nonimmigrant category resulted in a gap between the expiry of the present CNMI work permit and the new CNMI-Only Transitional Worker status. Consequently certain foreign nationals were likely to lose their legal immigration status.
Foreign nationals with CNMI Investor permits also face the same risk as there has been a gap between the expiry of the CNMI investor permit and the new CNMI-Only E-2 Investor status.
Till the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program and the CNMI Investor status are brought into effect, the parole-in-place will allow the foreign nationals remain in the CNMI and permit continued employment authorization under the federal immigration law.
Most of the provisions of federal immigration law were extended by the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA) to the CNMI commencing from November 28, 2009. As of this date, foreign nationals were considered to be present in the United States and subject to federal immigration law.
The USCIS has implemented the Consolidated Natural Resources Act in order to implement Congressional intent. To help reduce the detrimental effects on the CNMI and also prop up the CNMIs economic and business growth in the future, the USCIS will take necessary steps.
