News Briefs – February 26, 2020

NMHC offers loan deferment assistance

Due to the impending austerity measures and the anticipated economic hardships as a result of the decline in the tourism industry as affected by the suspension of visitor arrivals from China and reduced flights from Korea, most, if not all Northern Marianas Housing Corp. clients will somehow be affected.
Therefore, NMHC will place a blanket deferment assistance of all of its loans for a period of three months, which will begin March 1, 2020, and will end on May 31, 2020. Interest shall not accrue during the three-month period. Beginning June 1, 2020, all loans will be reinstated to their regular monthly payments and an additional three months will be added on to the loan maturity.
If you do not wish to avail of this assistance, you must provide NMHC an official cancelation notice of the deferment assistance being offered.
Should you have any further questions, contact the Mortgage & Credit Division at telephone numbers 234-6866/9447/7689/7670. (PR)

Ask USCIS: Implementation of public charge inadmissibility final rule

Do you have questions about the implementation of the inadmissibility on public charge grounds final rule? We want to hear from you. 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will implement the final rule beginning with applications and petitions postmarked (or, if applicable, submitted electronically) on or after Feb. 24, 2020. USCIS updated the policy manual and posted information to USCIS.gov.
If you have general questions or need more clarification on how USCIS will implement the final rule, submit questions by emailing public.engagement@uscis.dhs.gov by Feb. 28 at noon Eastern. Put “Public Charge” in the subject line. USCIS will not address case-specific questions.
Responses to frequently asked questions will be posted to the USCIS Electronic Reading Room. (PR)

SHRM membership meeting on Thursday

The Society for Human Resource Management- NMI Chapter will have a general membership meeting on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Saipan ballroom beginning at 11:30am.
At the meeting, representatives of the Northern Marianas Business Alliance and SHRM NMI will provide information about the federal issues concerning the NMI’s labor and immigration updates. The presenters will also discuss other provisions and requirements of the NMI U.S. Workforce Act of 2018, U.S. Public Law 115-218 such as the three-fourths guarantee.
This meeting is open to the public. The meeting includes a lunch buffet at the cost of $25 for SHRM members and $35 for non-members.  Seats are limited, so reserve your seat by contacting Roman Tudela by email at roman.tudela@gmail.com or Denise Montenegro at denise.montenegro@hyatt.com or by telephone at (670) 323-5867/68. (PR)