Advance parole still needed to go on vacation

Nonresident workers whose Commonwealth-only worker petitions are still pending need not miss their Christmas vacations in December, provided they apply for and obtain advance parole from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

An advance parole costs $360.

USCIS district director David Gulick briefly talked about the advance parole requirement for vacationing nonresidents with pending CW petitions during yesterday’s session for employers on the filing of Form I-129CW.

Unlike last week wherein some 100 employer representatives showed up, only more than 40 attended yesterday’s USCIS session and Gulick said the fewer number is a “good sign” that employers got their questions answered last week.

Another USCIS session for employers will be held at 2pm today at the American Memorial Park indoor auditorium in Garapan.

The last session will be held tomorrow at 10am at the same place.

During the question-and-answer, Gulick said nonresidents with pending CW applications could re-enter the CNMI using advance parole.

He, however, cautioned that if the CW petition is granted during the time when the nonresident is still off-island, the nonresident needs to obtain a CW visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate to be able to come back to the CNMI.

This means the employer in the CNMI that receives the CW petition needs to send the original documents to the employee, so that the employee can present this to the U.S. embassy or consulate when he applies for a CW visa.

Gulick said he hopes the U.S. State Department will be ready to issue CW visas by the time CW applications are approved.

In responding to questions about CW visa denial, Gulick said there’s always a chance for denial and that there are no guarantees in immigration.

USCIS expects CW petitions to be adjudicated before Jan. 31, 2012, the same date when most parole extensions granted will expire.

But if the vacationing nonresident’s CW petition is still pending by the time he comes back to the CNMI, then he just needs to present his advance parole to the immigration officer and would not need a CW visa.

At yesterday’s USCIS session, Gulick responded to questions about Form I-129CW and related issues.

Jess Taisague, owner of Diamond Home Healthcare, said he attended the USCIS session to clarify some more issues about the form before he files a CW petition for his two nonresident employees this week.

Rheyn Luha, an employee of Artman Corp., said she tried to attend the USCIS session last week but was turned away because the auditorium was already filled to capacity, so she tried her luck yesterday.

She said after attending the session, she’s now more confident that the CW petitions will be filed properly this week for 11 nonresidents.