19–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPT. 112–319 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session Part 1 

TO RESOLVE THE STATUS OF CERTAIN PERSONS LEGALLY RESIDING IN 

THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS UNDER 

THE IMMIGRATION LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2011.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1466] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1466) to resolve the status of certain persons legally residing in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 

under the immigration laws of the United States, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 

recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1466 is to resolve the status of certain persons legally residing in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under the immigration laws of the United States. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In 1976, Congress passed and the President signed the Covenant 

to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 

(CNMI) in Political Union with the United States of America (Public Law 94–241). The CNMI government adopted its own constitution in 1977, and the constitutional government took office in January 1978. The Covenant was fully implemented on November 3, 

1986, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 5564, which conferred 

United States citizenship on legally qualified CNMI residents. The 

Covenant defines the political relationship between the CNMI and 

the United States, with the CNMI as a self-governing entity under 

the sovereignty of the U.S. The relationship is governed by the 

Covenant together with those provisions of the U.S. Constitution, 


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treaties and laws of the U.S. applicable to the CNMI. The Covenant exempted the CNMI from most of the provisions of U.S. immigration laws which allowed the CNMI to control its own immigration. Under local immigration authority, the CNMI could allow 

aliens to enter the territory for travel purposes and the local government could issue permits to aliens for work opportunities. 

Aliens with passports could also travel from the CNMI to the U.S., 

if they had the necessary travel documents. 

Section 503 of the Covenant allows Congress to apply U.S. immigration and naturalization laws to the CNMI. Using this authority 

Congress passed the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 

(Public Law 110–229), which applied federal immigration laws to 

the CNMI. Public Law 110–229 provided a two year transition period until federal immigration laws were fully applied. The two 

year transition period ends on November 27, 2011. During the two 

year transition period, aliens working under CNMI-issued umbrella 

permits had legal status. The application of federal immigration 

laws to the CNMI has created a situation where aliens legally residing in the CNMI under local laws would be without legal status 

under federal laws and could face deportation. 

H.R. 1466 would affect roughly 5,000–7,300 aliens legally residing in the CNMI. It would authorize the admission of an alien as 

an immigrant to the CNMI as long as the alien meets the requirements to be admitted to the United States. Specifically, H.R. 1466 

would require an alien to have resided in the CNMI on November 

28, 2009, and continue to reside in the CNMI on the date of enactment of H.R. 1466. An eligible alien would also have to meet one 

of these requirements: (1) was born in the CNMI between January 

1, 1974, and January 9, 1978; (2) was, on May 8, 2008, a CNMI 

permanent resident; (3) is the spouse or child, of an alien under (1) 

or (2); or (4) was, on May 8, 2008, and continues to be, an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, notwithstanding the citizen’s age. 

H.R. 1466 would prohibit, unless otherwise authorized, such 

alien from traveling to, or residing in, any part of the United 

States other than the CNMI. It would also authorize the alien to 

apply for an immigrant visa or to adjust his or her status to that 

of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on or after 

January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2016. Lastly, the bill would 

require a reduction in the number of diversity immigrants for each 

such immigrant visa or permanent resident status granted. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1466 was introduced on April 8, 2011, by Delegate Gregorio 

Sablan (D-MP). The bill was primarily referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs. The 

bill was also referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. On July 

14, 2011, the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held a hearing on the bill. On October 5, 2011, the 

Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 

Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs 

was discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered to the bill and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the 

House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 


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COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 1466—A bill to resolve the status of certain persons legally residing in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 

under the immigration laws of the United States 

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1466 would have no significant net cost to the federal government. Enacting the bill would 

affect direct spending, but CBO estimates that the net costs would 

not be significant. Because the legislation would affect direct 

spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would 

not affect revenues. 

H.R. 1466 would permit certain persons currently residing in the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to apply 

for permanent residence in CNMI within eight months of the bill’s 

enactment and would permit some of those persons to apply for 

permanent U.S. residence in calendar year 2015. Under the bill’s 

provisions, any visas issued to CNMI residents in 2015 would be 

offset by a reduction in the number of visas available for certain 

other immigrants in that year. 

Based on information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), we expect that the department would charge a fee of 

$500 to $1,000 in 2012 to several thousand applicants for permanent CNMI residence and would charge a similar fee in 2015 to a 

smaller number of applicants for permanent U.S. residence. CBO 

estimates that additional fee collections in 2012 would be less than 

$5 million. (No significant additional amounts would be collected in 

2015 because visas granted to CNMI residents would be offset by 

a reduction in visas available for other immigrants.) DHS is authorized to spend those fees without further appropriation; therefore, the net effect on the budget in any year would not be significant, CBO estimates. 

H.R. 1466 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 


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The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz. The 

estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or 

tax expenditures. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1466 

would have no significant net cost to the federal government. Enacting the bill would affect direct spending, but CBO estimates that 

the net costs would not be significant. Because the legislation 

would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to resolve the status of certain persons legally residing in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under 

the immigration laws of the United States. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is printed in italic 

and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 

roman): 

SECTION 6 OF THE ACT OF MARCH 24, 1976 

Joint Resolution To approve the ‘‘Covenant To Establish a Commonwealth of the 

Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America’’, 

and for other purposes. 

SEC. 6. IMMIGRATION AND TRANSITION. 

(a) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(e) PERSONS LAWFULLY ADMITTED UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH

IMMIGRATION LAW.— 

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(6) SPECIAL PROVISION REGARDING LONG TERM RESIDENTS OF

THE COMMONWEALTH.— 


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(A) CNMI-ONLY RESIDENT STATUS.—Notwithstanding 

paragraph (1), an alien described in subparagraph (C) 

may, upon the application of the alien, be admitted as an 

immigrant to the Commonwealth subject to the following 

rules: 

(i) The alien shall be treated as a permanent resident 

of the Commonwealth only, including permitting entry 

to and exit from the Commonwealth, until the earlier 

of the date that— 

(I) the alien ceases to permanently reside in the 

Commonwealth; or 

(II) the alien’s status is adjusted under this section or section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined 

under section 101(a)(20) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

1101(a)(20)), if the alien is otherwise eligible for 

such an adjustment. 

(ii) Unless otherwise authorized, the alien shall not 

be permitted to travel to, or reside in, any part of the 

United States, as defined in section 101(a)(38) of such 

Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(38)), other than the Commonwealth. 

(iii) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a process for such aliens to apply for CNMI-only 

permanent resident status during the 90-day period beginning on the first day of the sixth month after the 

date of the enactment of this Act. 

(B) AUTHORITY TO WAIVE CERTAIN REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of chapter 5 of title 5, United 

States Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Administrative 

Procedure Act’’), chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 

(commonly referred to as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’), 

or any other law relating to rulemaking, information collection, or publication in the Federal Register, shall not apply 

to any action to implement subparagraph (A) to the extent 

the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that compliance with any such requirement would impede the expeditious implementation of such paragraph. 

(C) ALIENS DESCRIBED.—An alien is described in this 

subparagraph if— 

(i) the alien is otherwise admissible to the United 

States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

U.S.C. 1101 et seq.); 

(ii) the alien resided in the Commonwealth— 

(I) on November 28, 2009; and 

(II) on the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

(iii) the alien— 

(I) was born in the Northern Mariana Islands 

between January 1, 1974, and January 9, 1978; 

(II) was, on May 8, 2008, a permanent resident 

as that term is defined in section 4303 of Title 3 

of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth 

Code in effect on May 8, 2008; 


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(III) is the spouse or child, as defined in section 

101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

(8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)), of an alien described in subclauses (I) or (II); or 

(IV) was, on May 8, 2008, an immediate relative, 

as that term is defined in section 4303 of Title 3 

of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth 

Code in effect on May 8, 2008, of a United States 

citizen, not withstanding the age of the United 

States citizen, and continues to be such an immediate relative on the date of the application described under subparagraph (A). 

(D) ADJUSTMENT FOR LONG TERM AND PERMANENT RESI- DENTS.— 

(i) IN GENERAL.—An alien described in clauses (I), 

(II), or (III) of subparagraph (C)(iii) may apply to receive an immigrant visa or to adjust his or her status 

to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

residence on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2016. 

(ii) ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRANT VISAS.—Upon the 

granting of an immigrant visa or approval of an application for permanent residence to an alien under this 

subparagraph, the Secretary of State shall reduce by 

one the total number of diversity immigrant visas authorized to be issued under section 201(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(e)) for the 

fiscal year then current. 

(iii) FEES.—With respect to applications for CNMIonly permanent resident status, an immigrant visa or 

to adjust status to that of an alien lawfully admitted 

for permanent residence submitted by an alien described in clause (iii) of subparagraph (C), the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security— 

(I) may, in the discretion of each such Secretary, 

reduce the fees collected from the alien for CNMIonly permanent resident status, an immigrant 

visa, or an adjustment of status; and 

(II) shall, if applicable, waive the affidavit of 

support requirement under section 213A of such 

Act (8 U.S.C. 1183a) and subparagraphs (B)(ii) 

and (C)(ii) of section 212(a)(4) of such Act (8 

U.S.C. 1182(a)(4)). 

* * * * * * * 


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