‘Visa limits may be same as US’

Department of Homeland Security officials have reportedly hinted that foreign investors in the Commonwealth could face the same visa restrictions seen in the U.S. mainland despite hopes for a local exception from the rules.

In a closed-door meeting Tuesday with Saipan Chamber of Commerce representatives on the pending federal takeover of local immigration and labor, the visiting DHS delegation implied that the Commonwealth will not get any special exemptions from federal visa restrictions, sources privy to the meeting said.

Held at the Chamber’s offices in Garapan, the meeting marked the first initial talks between a key Chamber committee formed in anticipation of the federal takeover and DHS about the regulations the agency is crafting after President Bush earlier this year signed the so-called “federalization” bill.

Business leaders have long said federalization could harm the local economy, which is largely dependant on alien labor, by limiting the number of foreign workers that can be brought into the Commonwealth and stifle foreign investment by imposing strict rules on investor visas. In contrast, proponents of the bill say it will lead to a more stable immigration status for foreign workers.

The meeting with DHS comes as Gov. Benigno Fitial is poised to sue the federal government over the new law and its economic consequences. Nevertheless, Chamber President James Arenovski described Tuesday’s meeting as “positive,” saying it will help to “start a dialogue” with the agency as it pens the new rules.

“I think they’re looking to us for some direction on how things work here and for something that will help to give us workers during the transitional period,” Arenovski said in an interview after the meeting. “They want to make sure we have what we need for our businesses and our workers.”

Chief among the issues that surfaced during the several hours of talks, sources said, were federalization’s impact on foreign labor and its consequences for foreign investments, a major source of new business for the region.

“We discussed the visa issues for Chinese and Russian tourists, labor and guest worker concerns, as well as investor visas,” said Lynn Knight, chairperson of the Hotel Association of the Northern Marianas Islands, who attended the meeting. “This was an important beginning on these highly complex issues.”

Investors have hoped DHS would consider a local exemption to American visa requirements that might otherwise apply to them. Yet Arenovski said DHS officials “made it fairly clear” during the meeting that foreign investors “would have to file under some type of U.S. visa” to conduct business in the Commonwealth.

Alex Youn, president of Ace Investment Group and a member of the Chamber committee, echoed those statements saying it “sounds like we’re not going to get any special exception on foreign investment visas compared to the other 50 states.”

Strict federal rules on foreign investor visas, Youn added, could prove highly problematic for international businesses operating locally. The criteria for the two current visa classes now available to foreign investors could bar many applicants from getting visas, he said.

One class stipulates that “passive investments” like purchasing land would fall short of qualifying investors for a visa, Youn noted. The second class would grant visas to passive investors, but it carries a $500,000 threshold for qualifying in addition to requiring that the applicant hire 10 employees.

Businesses should begin studying the current labor and immigration regulations seen elsewhere in the United States in order to anticipate how the federal system is likely to operate, Youn added.

Several sources say that DHS’ stance on the pending regulations, due for proposal later this year, is still tentative given a variety of factors that could influence how the rules take shape, including the installation of a new U.S. president next year and the typical notice-and-comment period federal agencies use to write rules.

DHS officials could not be reached for comment on this story. One federal official, however, noted that the federalization bill includes provisions that could prompt the agency to review the status of foreign investors after the rules are put in place.