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AGO tightens rules on sponsorships
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Posted on Jan 12 2006
CNMI residents must have a clean record in sponsorship matters in order to be eligible to sponsor an alien in the Commonwealth, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The AGO, under the leadership of former Attorney General Pamela S. Brown, has sought to establish immigration regulation concerning local sponsorship of an alien applying for a Visitor Entry Permit, Short-term Business Entry Permit, Immediate Relative of a Non-Alien Permit, or Immediate Relative of an Alien Permit.
The proposed regulation, which appears in the latest Commonwealth Register, states that a person wishing to serve as a sponsor must not have previously sponsored an alien who then violated U.S. or Commonwealth immigration laws or regulations.
A person who has sponsored an alien who at any time is present in the Commonwealth without legal status will not be allowed to sponsor another nonresident.
The AGO has also drafted procedure for the revocation of an immigration permit.
The proposed regulation authorizes the Division of Immigration to revoke a permit upon finding that the alien holding the permit no longer satisfies the criteria for the permit category; the permit was obtained by fraud, deceit, material misrepresentation, or in violation of CNMI law; or the sponsor of the alien has become ineligible under or has failed to satisfy the sponsorship requirements.
Another regulation proposed by the AGO grants the agency the power to waive any exit requirements required by immigration law “under exceptional circumstances, such as dire emergency or extreme hardship, and when in the best interest of the Commonwealth.”
“An expense that would preclude an alien from returning to the Commonwealth does not, standing alone, constitute an extreme hardship or dire emergency,” the AGO said.
To apply for an exit waiver, an alien should submit a written request to the Immigration director, who should forward the request to the attorney general with recommendation.
