CPA: We’re ready

The Commonwealth Ports Authority assures that it is ready for the influx of visitors expected to enter the CNMI now that the South Korea travel bubble has been approved for July.

According to Kimberlyn King-Hinds, Commonwealth Ports Authority board chair, CPA is ready and excited for the CNMI’s first step into reviving its tourism industry.

“This is a necessary step for the CNMI to revive the tourism industry. The economy has to be our main focus moving forward and this travel bubble with Korea is just the beginning. CPA is ready,” she said.

One of the biggest, most exciting changes in time for the travel bubble, King-Hinds said, will be the processing for international arrivals, thanks to the Simplified Arrival process of the U,S. Customs and Border Protection.

“We are especially excited about the implementation of the Simplified Arrival process, which has been recently expanded to [the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport] by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in partnership with CPA, which we hope will streamline and improve processing for international arrivals in time for this travel bubble,” she said.

“I want to thank CBP CNMI Ports director Jeff Hofschneider for staying on top of this opportunity and making it happen so that we can welcome our guests in a more efficient fashion,” King-Hinds added.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, Simplified Arrival is an enhanced international arrival process that uses facial biometrics to automate the manual document checks that are already required for admission into the United States. This process provides travelers with a touchless process that further secures and streamlines international arrivals while fulfilling a longstanding congressional mandate to biometrically record the entry and exit of non-U.S. citizens.

Simplified Arrival only uses the biometric facial comparison process at a time and place where travelers are already required by law to verify their identity by presenting a travel document. When travelers arrive at the Saipan airport on an international flight, they will pause for a photo at the primary inspection point. CBP’s biometric facial comparison process will compare the new photo of the traveler to a small gallery of high-quality images that the traveler has already provided to the government, such as passport and visa photos. In addition, foreign travelers who have traveled to the U.S. previously may no longer need to provide fingerprints as their identity will be confirmed through the touchless facial comparison process.

On June 30, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on behalf of the CNMI and Vice Minister Seong-Kyu Hwang of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea, signed the travel bubble agreement that facilitates the safe resumption of air travel between the two countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The travel bubble took effect yesterday, July 1.