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$360 parole for Guam travel draws concern
A Commonwealth-only worker permit holder was surprised and dismayed to learn that she needs to apply for a $360 “advance parole” to travel to Guam for a badminton tournament instead of the free “parole,” which was what she was preparing for when she showed up yesterday for her appointment at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Garapan.
At least two other CW permit holders who are supposed to go to Guam for the same tournament said yesterday they will back out from the trip, citing a “costly” application process that they found out was just recently implemented.
One other said he will still try his luck to be able to go to Guam.
A CW permit holder with the initials “M.M.” and has been legally on Saipan since 1995, was selected by the Northern Marianas Badminton Association to represent the group in an Aug. 3 to 4 badminton tournament in Guam. She said she thought she only has to apply for “parole,” which is free of charge.
She said CW permit holders and those without B1/B2 visas were previously allowed to go to Guam after being granted “parole.”
“The USCIS officer said there were changes in the travel policy only recently. I wish they made an announcement about those changes. All along, I thought advance parole is only for travel to non-U.S. [territory]. I was already hopeful that I will be able to represent the CNMI in that tournament and at the same time see Guam for a few days,” she told Saipan Tribune hours after her appointment with USCIS.
She said she asked the USCIS officer whether she could use the “advance parole” she already has, which is still valid until Sept. 12, 2012. She used that advance parole to travel to the Philippines.
“The USCIS officer said this is a different one, and I have to apply for another advance parole. She said there’s a new policy for travel to Guam, and that’s to apply for advance parole,” she said. She does not have a tourist or B1/B2 visa.
She said an approved advance parole that’s valid for multiple entries to Guam may be worth the $360, but she’s told there’s no guarantee that the application will be approved or even if it were approved, it could only be for a limited period.
Macoi Aguda and Hapi Gabriel, both CW permit holders, also have Infopass appointments in the next few days, supposedly to apply for “parole” for their planned travel to Guam for the same badminton tournament.
They said they are in the same situation as “M.M.” and they will most likely to be told to apply for an advance parole instead.
“I’m disappointed that one has to pay $360 to apply for travel to Guam for only a few days. It wasn’t like that before,” said Gabriel, adding that he is no longer planning to go to Guam for the tournament.
Rabby Syed, president of United Workers Movement-NMI, said yesterday it’s “absolutely unacceptable” to ask people to pay $360 for an application to travel to Guam.
“This is hard on foreign workers from the CNMI, and Guam is not that far to begin with. USCIS changed its policy without asking for comments from those that will be affected,” he said.
On June 29, USCIS added Question No. 55, among other things, to its “questions and answers” for the CNMI Transitional Worker Classification. Question number 55 asks, “Is CW status valid in any part of the United States other than the CNMI?”
CW status is a “CNMI-only nonimmigrant status.” It does not authorize entry to Guam or to any other part of the U.S., USCIS says.
Travel or attempted travel from the CNMI to another part of the U.S. without the appropriate visa or other authorization is a violation of CW status, it adds.
The lengthy answer to this question includes procedures on how to receive USCIS approval in advance of travel to Guam or any part of the U.S.
The procedure has remained almost the same for those with valid B nonimmigrant visa. B visa holders with CW permits, for example, only need to apply for and be granted parole to be able to travel to Guam.
For CW permit holders without B visa, the procedure is different.
USCIS says: “If the CW alien is not described in the above bullet point (i.e., the alien is not eligible to travel under a visa waiver program to the part of the United States to which he or she desires to travel, and does not possess a valid ‘B’ nonimmigrant visa), the alien will need to file a Form I-131 with the USCIS Guam Office to obtain an advance parole document.”
It added, “This document will be acceptable to CBP to permit the travel of the CW nonimmigrant in that nonimmigrant status to Guam and/or the rest of the United States, as appropriate, for a purpose and time appropriate for a B nonimmigrant visit, as described above. The ultimate decision whether to permit the travel is CBP’s decision.”
A separate USCIS page for I-131, application for travel document, says the purpose of the form is: “To apply for a reentry permit, refugee travel document or advance parole travel document, to include parole into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons.”
The filing fee for Form I-131 is $360.
The full Q&A for the CW program, including Question # 55 on travel, is available at: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=34b462c1c3073310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4d3314dd2b635210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD
More information about Form I-131 is available at: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b11747a55773d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=7d316c0b4c3bf110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD.
