No exit needed for those with pending INA visa applications

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is now considering allowing individuals with pending H1B, R-1, or L-1 visa applications to remain in the CNMI while their application is being processed if they apply for and are granted parole-in-place. They could also be allowed to continue working in the CNMI while their application is pending if they are granted an authorization for employment document, or AED.

USCIS district director David Gulick said during yesterday’s Saipan Chamber of Commerce membership meeting that the procedures for this are still being finalized.

Once this plan is finalized, it will provide relief to those with pending applications who would otherwise need to exit the CNMI if their applications have yet to be adjudicated by Nov. 27.

USCIS officials previously said during outreach sessions on the final worker rule that those with H1B, L-1, or R-1 applications still pending by Nov. 27, 2011, and do not have valid parole or status will need to exit the CNMI. They may only return when their petition is granted.

And even if some of these individuals have valid parole to remain in the CNMI, they cannot be allowed to work in the CNMI while their application is still pending.

USCIS has come up with a better plan to allay the concerns of employers and employees with pending H1B, R-1, or L-1 visa applications.

Chamber members and guests said the announcement of USCIS’ plan will help ensure that the operations of organizations with H1B, L-1, or R-1 applications will not be interrupted.

“The general overview is we will give them parole. They [also] have to apply for AED; otherwise, how can they work?” Gulick said in an interview later.

Requiring an AED is something new, to allow those with pending H1B applications to continue working while their applications are still pending. USCIS also considered providing the same procedures for religious workers seeking R-1 visa and those seeking L-1 visa (intra-company transferees).

The idea, said Gulick, is for a applicant to apply for parole-in-place and AED at the same time.

Those with pending Commonwealth-only worker status by Nov. 27 can continue to remain and work in the CNMI beyond that date while their CW application is still pending.

Douglas Brennan, president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, thanked Gulick and the rest of the USCIS team for conducting several public outreach sessions of the final rule governing foreign workers in the CNMI.

Gulick and his team did over 40 public outreach sessions attended by some 4,000 individuals on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

Gulick said were it not for the support and funding assistance of the USCIS director and their headquarters in Washington, D.C., they wouldn’t be able to do as much as they did in the CNMI about the CW rule.

During his presentation, Gulick also said that they have so far received some 700 requests for extension of parole.

USCIS encourages people to visit the following websites for more information about the CW rule: www.uscis.gov/cnmi, www.uscis.gov/cw, and www.youtube.com/user/uscis. To speak to someone in person, visit www.uscis.gov and make an InfoPass appointment.