116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 559 

AN ACT 

To amend section 6 of the Joint Resolution entitled ‘‘A 

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’’. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Mariana Is3 lands Long-Term Legal Residents Relief Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. LONG-TERM LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE COMMON5 WEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA IS6 LANDS. 

7 Section 6(e) of the Joint Resolution entitled ‘‘A Joint 

8 Resolution to approve the Covenant To Establish a Com9 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political 

10 Union with the United States of America, and for other 

11 purposes’’, approved March 24, 1976 (48 U.S.C. 1806), 

12 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL PROVISION REGARDING LONG14 TERM RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH.— 

15 ‘‘(A) CNMI RESIDENT STATUS.—An alien 

16 described in subparagraph (B) may, upon the 

17 application of the alien, be admitted in CNMI 

18 Resident status to the Commonwealth subject 

19 to the following rules: 

20 ‘‘(i) The alien shall be treated as an 

21 alien lawfully admitted to the Common22 wealth only, including permitting entry to 

23 and exit from the Commonwealth, until the 

24 earlier of the date on which— 

25 ‘‘(I) the alien ceases to reside in 

26 the Commonwealth; or 
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1 ‘‘(II) the alien’s status is ad2 justed under section 245 of the Immi3 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

4 1255) to that of an alien lawfully ad5 mitted for permanent residence in ac6 cordance with all applicable eligibility 

7 requirements. 

8 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Se9 curity— 

10 ‘‘(I) shall establish a process for 

11 such alien to apply for CNMI Resi12 dent status during the 180-day period 

13 beginning on a date determined by the 

14 Secretary but not later than the first 

15 day of the sixth month after the date 

16 of the enactment of this paragraph; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) may, in the Secretary’s dis19 cretion, authorize deferred action or 

20 parole, as appropriate, with work au21 thorization, for such alien beginning 

22 on the date of the enactment of this 

23 paragraph and continuing through the 

24 end of such 180-day period or the 

25 date of adjudication of the alien’s ap-
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1 plication for CNMI Resident status, 

2 whichever is later. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Nothing in this subparagraph 

4 may be construed to provide any alien 

5 granted status under this subparagraph 

6 with public assistance to which the alien is 

7 not otherwise entitled. 

8 ‘‘(iv) An alien granted status under 

9 this paragraph— 

10 ‘‘(I) is subject to all grounds of 

11 deportability under section 237 of the 

12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

13 U.S.C. 1227); 

14 ‘‘(II) is subject to all grounds of 

15 inadmissibility under section 212 of 

16 the Immigration and Nationality Act 

17 (8 U.S.C. 1182) if seeking admission 

18 to the United States at a port of 

19 entry in the Commonwealth; 

20 ‘‘(III) is inadmissible to the 

21 United States at any port of entry 

22 outside the Commonwealth, except 

23 that the Secretary of Homeland Secu24 rity may in the Secretary’s discretion 

25 authorize admission of such alien at a 
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1 port of entry in Guam for the purpose 

2 of direct transit to the Common3 wealth, which admission shall be con4 sidered an admission to the Common5 wealth; 

6 ‘‘(IV) automatically shall lose 

7 such status if the alien travels from 

8 the Commonwealth to any other place 

9 in the United States, except that the 

10 Secretary of Homeland Security may 

11 in the Secretary’s discretion establish 

12 procedures for the advance approval 

13 on a case-by-case basis of such travel 

14 for a temporary and legitimate pur15 pose, and the Secretary may in the 

16 Secretary’s discretion authorize the 

17 direct transit of aliens with CNMI 

18 Resident status through Guam to a 

19 foreign place; 

20 ‘‘(V) shall be authorized to work 

21 in the Commonwealth incident to sta22 tus; and 

23 ‘‘(VI) shall be issued appropriate 

24 travel documentation and evidence of 

25 work authorization by the Secretary. 
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1 ‘‘(B) ALIENS DESCRIBED.—An alien is de2 scribed in this subparagraph if the alien— 

3 ‘‘(i) was lawfully present on the date 

4 of the enactment of this paragraph or on 

5 December 31, 2018, in the Commonwealth 

6 under the immigration laws of the United 

7 States, including pursuant to a grant of 

8 parole under section 212(d)(5) of the Im9 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

10 1182(d)(5)) or deferred action; 

11 ‘‘(ii) is admissible as an immigrant to 

12 the United States under the Immigration 

13 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

14 seq.), except that no immigrant visa is re15 quired; 

16 ‘‘(iii) resided continuously and law17 fully in the Commonwealth from November 

18 28, 2009, through the date of the enact19 ment of this paragraph; 

20 ‘‘(iv) is not a citizen of the Republic 

21 of the Marshall Islands, the Federated 

22 States of Micronesia, or the Republic of 

23 Palau; and 

24 ‘‘(v) in addition— 
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1 ‘‘(I) was born in the Northern 

2 Mariana Islands between January 1, 

3 1974, and January 9, 1978; 

4 ‘‘(II) was, on November 27, 

5 2009, a permanent resident of the 

6 Commonwealth (as defined in section 

7 4303 of title 3 of the Northern Mar8 iana Islands Commonwealth Code, in 

9 effect on May 8, 2008); 

10 ‘‘(III) is the spouse or child (as 

11 defined in section 101(b)(1) of the 

12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

13 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1))) of an alien de14 scribed in subclause (I) or (II); 

15 ‘‘(IV) was, on November 27, 

16 2011, a spouse, child, or parent of a 

17 United States citizen, notwithstanding 

18 the age of the United States citizen, 

19 and continues to have such family re20 lationship with the citizen on the date 

21 of the application described in sub22 paragraph (A); or 

23 ‘‘(V) had a grant of parole under 

24 section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration 

25 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
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1 1182(d)(5)) on December 31, 2018, 

2 under the former parole program for 

3 certain in-home caregivers adminis4 tered by United States Citizenship 

5 and Immigration Services. 

6 ‘‘(C) AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY GEN7 ERAL.—Beginning on the first day of the 180- 

8 day period established by the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security under subparagraph 

10 (A)(ii)(I), the Attorney General may accept and 

11 adjudicate an application for CNMI Resident 

12 status under this paragraph by an alien who is 

13 in removal proceedings before the Attorney 

14 General if the alien— 

15 ‘‘(i) makes an initial application to 

16 the Attorney General within such 180-day 

17 period; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) applied to the Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security during such 180-period 

20 and before being placed in removal pro21 ceedings, and the Secretary denied the ap22 plication. 

23 ‘‘(D) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding 

24 any other law, no court shall have jurisdiction 

25 to review any decision of the Secretary of 
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1 Homeland Security or the Attorney General on 

2 an application under this paragraph or any 

3 other action or determination of the Secretary 

4 of Homeland Security or the Attorney General 

5 to implement, administer, or enforce this para6 graph. 

7 ‘‘(E) PROCEDURE.—The requirements of 

8 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (com9 monly referred to as the Administrative Proce10 dure Act), or any other law relating to rule11 making, information collection or publication in 

12 the Federal Register shall not apply to any ac13 tion to implement, administer or enforce this 

14 paragraph.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

16 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

17 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

18 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

19 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

20 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

21 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
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1 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

2 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 3, 2019. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 559 

AN ACT 

To amend section 6 of the Joint Resolution entitled 

States of America, and for other purposes’’. iana Islands in Political Union with the United Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mar-‘‘A Joint Resolution to approve the Covenant To