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US embassies in Japan, Korea now also offer CW visa services
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Posted on Mar 28 2012
Commonwealth-only worker visa application services are now also available at the U.S. embassies in Japan and Korea, in addition to the one in Manila, Philippines.
More information about the CW visa service in Japan is available at http://www.ustraveldocs.com/jp/jp-niv-paymentinfo.asp.
For Korea, the website is http://www.ustraveldocs.com/kr/kr-niv-eft150.asp. Unlike other embassies in other Asian countries, the CW visa application fee is $140 at the U.S. Embassy in Korea.
U.S. embassies in other Asian countries such as China where many of the foreign workers in the CNMI come from have yet to offer CW visa services.
Some Chinese workers interviewed said they have yet to be given any schedule for a CW visa interview after costly and time-consuming calls to embassies in China.
“First they didn’t know what CW visa is. I called several times. Every phone call I have to buy special card, which is $5.50 to $8 for every 12 minutes. I already called many times,” said Joyce Su, who has been a foreign worker in the CNMI for 23 years, earlier said.
Another foreign worker from China, one of the managers at Hyatt Regency Saipan, along with a friend of his, has also been having difficulty scheduling a CW visa interview.
Only those with CW permit could apply for a CW visa at a U.S. embassy so that they can return to the CNMI after a vacation or emergency travel.
Because the CW visa application service is new and still needs further assessment, the second person to apply for such a visa in Manila had to wait for three weeks to get his CW visa after he was interviewed. He has since been back on Saipan.
CW is a new visa category created pursuant to U.S. Public Law 110-229, which placed CNMI immigration under federal control. The transitional visa is “valid only for entrance into the CNMI.”
Visa holders cannot use CW visas to travel to or work anywhere else in the United States.
