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Visa reform seeks to ease travel to CNMI, rest of US
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Posted on Dec 06 2011
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP) joined 34 other U.S. House of Representatives members in seeking tourist visa reform to ease travel to the United States, including the CNMI.
Sablan signed off on a Dec. 1 bipartisan letter encouraging the House and Senate Appropriators on State and Foreign Operations to include provisions to implement two pilot programs to improve visa service for travelers to the U.S.
The first program requires the Secretary of State to hire additional consular officers in the People’s Republic of China, Brazil, and India to meet its standard of reviewing tourist visa applicants within 30 days; to conduct a risk-benefit analysis of extending the visa for Chinese travelers; and to forecast demand over the next five years and establish a response plan.
The second program allows the State Secretary to develop a pilot program, using secure remote videoconferencing technology, to process B-1 and B-2 visas.
Sablan said these programs will help increase access to Chinese visitors, which is critical to economic recovery.
“Tourism continues to decline in the Northern Marianas with a 4 percent drop in October arrivals as compared to October 2010 and overall visitor arrivals down 8 percent for fiscal year 2011. We must find ways to attract more visitors and make it easier for them to travel to our islands,” Sablan said.
The delegate thanked Reps. Mike Honda (D-CA) and Joe Heck, D.O. (R-NV) for leading this effort.
In their four-page letter, the Congress members said their requests in no way compromise U.S. national security and do not require new appropriated dollars, “but they do promise to stimulate our nation’s economy almost immediately.”
