US citizens in CNMI don’t need passport to travel to Guam but…

The start of the transition to federal immigration—whether it will be on June 1 or at a later date—will not require additional travel documents for U.S. citizens in the CNMI wishing to travel to Guam, Hawaii or the U.S. mainland, but the U.S. Customs and Border Protection encourages them to always carry a U.S. passport or any proof of citizenship when traveling.

Mike Balero, public affairs liaison officer at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, yesterday said no passport will be required among U.S. citizens when traveling between Guam, the CNMI, Hawaii and the mainland, which is already the case.

Balero, however, said “there is the requirement that a traveler must establish that they are not otherwise inadmissible when they travel onward to another U.S. destination at the departure control point.”

“For a U.S. citizen, the easiest way to do this is by establishing citizenship by providing a passport or other documents that show identity and citizenship,” he told Saipan Tribune.

The Customs and Border Protection Web site also states that travelers from U.S. territories do not need to present a passport to enter the United States.

“U.S. citizens returning directly from a U.S. territory are not considered to have left the U.S. and do not need to present a passport. U.S. territories include the following: Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Swains Island and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. If the traveler also visited non-U.S. territories, he/she will be required to present a passport,” it said.

Although U.S. citizens are not required to present a passport upon departure from the U.S. territories, travelers are encouraged to travel with a passport or other proof of citizenship, as they will be asked questions about citizenship and any goods they will be bringing to the U.S. mainland upon their departure from U.S. territories.

When the federal government takes over local immigration, tourists from 12 countries exempted from the U.S. visa requirement and accepted into the CNMI under the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program would not be allowed past the departure control point when traveling to the continental United States, Hawaii or other U.S. territories.

The countries whose citizens are included in the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program are Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

The CNMI has been asking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to add China and Russia to the list of countries exempt from the U.S. visa requirement, citing the significant economic contributions of these tourists to the islands.

For additional information about travel document requirements, visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, www.cbp.gov.