Immigration Office gets a makeover

The Immigration Office in San Antonio has been spruced up, making people more comfortable now in doing business with the agency. And the government did not spend a penny for the improvements.

This came about after new Director Melvin Grey and Afetnas Building owner Jesus S. Sablan coordinated efforts to “dress up” the office by cleaning and painting the interior, and replacing the broken furniture. The Immigration Office is one of the tenants of the Afetnas Building.

Grey told the Saipan Tribune that when he assumed office, he told Sablan that the building is good and only needs a repainting of the interior and repair of some furniture to make it more presentable.

Grey said he explained that, under the contract with the government, the building owner has the responsibility to maintain the facility.

“I told him [Sablan], ‘Can you please help out as part of the contract?’ He said there’s no problem. He’s very cooperative,” the director said.

Sablan then sent his workers to help remove a lot of unnecessary papers and furniture that could no longer be salvaged. Painting of the public area, then the interior of the office, followed.

Grey even contributed his free time during weekends by helping Sablan’s crew in sprucing up the interior.

“Now it looks like a business office. It’s a nice atmosphere for your day, more conformable, a more pleasant place to do business,” said the director, adding that improvements are still ongoing.

Grey stressed there were no expenses incurred on the part of the government.

Meanwhile, the director clarified his earlier statement about his advice to illegal aliens to surrender, saying that he is no way encouraging tourists to come to the CNMI to find employment.

“I will not authorize a tourist to adjust his status in order to accept employment in the CNMI. Any alien wanting to accept employment in the CNMI must follow the regulations and be petitioned by a prospective employer while the alien is outside of the CNMI,” he said.

A few days after he assumed office, Grey implemented a system that makes it easier for tourists to process their papers for an extension of their stay in the Commonwealth.

Under the new system, the processing of extensions now take only five to 10 minutes.

Starting last Wednesday, Grey also implemented a one-stop shopping system for government services within the Immigration Office in San Antonio.

The director earlier said that people can expect improved, friendlier, and more efficient services at Immigration.