Still no CW for 71 pct. of petitioned alien workers

About 29 percent or 3,422 of the total 11,739 foreign workers petitioned for a Commonwealth-only worker status have been approved as of June 5, based on data provided yesterday by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Looked the other way, that means about 71 percent of CW petitions for foreign workers remain pending and that majority of the foreign workforce in the CNMI remain uncertain about their status.

USCIS regional media manager Marie Therese Sebrechts said a total of 2,166 I-129CW petitions were approved, consisting of 3,422 beneficiaries.

These were among the 5,704 I-129 CW petitions data entered from Oct. 7 through June 5.

A total of 11,739 CW-1 workers are sponsored in these petitions, filed by some 1,785 employers.

These figures include 767 workers on Tinian, 371 on Rota and the rest, on Saipan.

Sebrechts also said 53 petitions were denied consisting of 60 beneficiaries.

“Denials are still either withdrawals of the application or not meeting the eligibility requirements for employer or worker,” Sebrechts said.

USCIS has also issued requests for evidence for a variety of reasons.

Sebrechts said some petitioners did not include documentation showing that they are doing business, that they have considered all available U.S. workers for the job position and/or that they are offering jobs consistent with the nature of their business.

“USCIS’ California Service Center has also had to ask for evidence of the beneficiary’s lawful presence in the CNMI,” she added.

Employers and foreign workers in the CNMI have been expressing concerns about the prolonged processing time for CW petitions, considering that USCIS earlier set a self-imposed deadline of Jan. 31 to complete the reviews.

Richard Pierce, executive director of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, said yesterday that at this moment, the U.S. Government Accountability Office is preparing a report to Congress measuring the level and extent of uncertainty for existing and potential investment as USCIS and U.S. Labor have not indicated whether the transition period for CW-1 workers will be extended beyond 2014.

“How can we even know how uncertain we are when we don’t even know when and how many of those petitions will be approved?” he told Saipan Tribune.

When asked whether the Chamber believes that the 11,739 petitioned workers is pretty much the number of skilled foreign workers that the CNMI still needs by and beyond 2014, Pierce said, “Not necessarily.”

“Who knows what our condition will be in 2014? If our economy continues to tank, we’d obviously need less. I certainly hope that’s not the case. Frankly, like GAO asking how uncertain we are about our foreign national workers being ‘zeroed out’ in 2014, is like asking a guy who’s just been shot through both legs (wage and immigration authority) how he feels about it all,” Pierce added.

The CNMI’s immigration system is now under federal control pursuant to U.S. Public Law 11-229.