H. R. 559 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and nineteen 

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’’. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Mariana Islands LongTerm Legal Residents Relief Act’’. 

SEC. 2. LONG-TERM LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF 

THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 

Section 6(e) 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’’, approved March 24, 1976 

(48 U.S.C. 1806), is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(6) SPECIAL PROVISION REGARDING LONG-TERM RESIDENTS

OF THE COMMONWEALTH.— 

‘‘(A) CNMI RESIDENT STATUS.—An alien described in 

subparagraph (B) may, upon the application of the alien, 

be admitted in CNMI Resident status to the Commonwealth subject to the following rules: 

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

admitted to the Commonwealth only, including permitting entry to and exit from the Commonwealth, until 

the earlier of the date on which— 

‘‘(I) the alien ceases to reside in the Commonwealth; or 

‘‘(II) the alien’s status is adjusted under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

(8 U.S.C. 1255) to that of an alien lawfully 

admitted for permanent residence in accordance 

with all applicable eligibility requirements. 

‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security— 

‘‘(I) shall establish a process for such alien 

to apply for CNMI Resident status during the 180- 

day period beginning on a date determined by 

the Secretary but not later than the first day of 

the sixth month after the date of the enactment 

of this paragraph; and 

‘‘(II) may, in the Secretary’s discretion, 

authorize deferred action or parole, as appropriate, 

with work authorization, for such alien beginning 
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on the date of the enactment of this paragraph 

and continuing through the end of such 180-day 

period or the date of adjudication of the alien’s 

application for CNMI Resident status, whichever 

is later. 

‘‘(iii) Nothing in this subparagraph may be construed to provide any alien granted status under this 

subparagraph with public assistance to which the alien 

is not otherwise entitled. 

‘‘(iv) An alien granted status under this paragraph— 

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

under section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227); 

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

under section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) if seeking admission to 

the United States at a port of entry in the 

Commonwealth; 

‘‘(III) is inadmissible to the United States at 

any port of entry outside the Commonwealth, 

except that the Secretary of Homeland Security 

may in the Secretary’s discretion authorize admission of such alien at a port of entry in Guam 

for the purpose of direct transit to the Commonwealth, which admission shall be considered an 

admission to the Commonwealth; 

‘‘(IV) automatically shall lose such status if 

the alien travels from the Commonwealth to any 

other place in the United States, except that the 

Secretary of Homeland Security may in the Secretary’s discretion establish procedures for the 

advance approval on a case-by-case basis of such 

travel for a temporary and legitimate purpose, and 

the Secretary may in the Secretary’s discretion 

authorize the direct transit of aliens with CNMI 

Resident status through Guam to a foreign place; 

‘‘(V) shall be authorized to work in the 

Commonwealth incident to status; and 

‘‘(VI) shall be issued appropriate travel documentation and evidence of work authorization by 

the Secretary. 

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

subparagraph if the alien— 

‘‘(i) was lawfully present on the date of the enactment of this paragraph or on December 31, 2018, in 

the Commonwealth under the immigration laws of the 

United States, including pursuant to a grant of parole 

under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) or deferred action; 

‘‘(ii) is admissible as an immigrant to the United 

States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), except that no immigrant visa 

is required; 

‘‘(iii) resided continuously and lawfully in the 

Commonwealth from November 28, 2009, through the 

date of the enactment of this paragraph; 
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‘‘(iv) is not a citizen of the Republic of the Marshall 

Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the 

Republic of Palau; and 

‘‘(v) in addition— 

‘‘(I) was born in the Northern Mariana Islands 

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

‘‘(II) was, on November 27, 2009, a permanent 

resident of the Commonwealth (as defined in section 4303 of title 3 of the Northern Mariana 

Islands Commonwealth Code, in effect on May 8, 

2008); 

‘‘(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 subclause (I) or (II); 

‘‘(IV) was, on November 27, 2011, a spouse, 

child, or parent of a United States citizen, notwithstanding the age of the United States citizen, and 

continues to have such family relationship with 

the citizen on the date of the application described 

in subparagraph (A); or 

‘‘(V) had a grant of parole under section 

212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

(8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) on December 31, 2018, under 

the former parole program for certain in-home 

caregivers administered by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

‘‘(C) AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Beginning on 

the first day of the 180-day period established by the Secretary of Homeland Security under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I), 

the Attorney General may accept and adjudicate an application for CNMI Resident status under this paragraph by 

an alien who is in removal proceedings before the Attorney 

General if the alien— 

‘‘(i) makes an initial application to the Attorney 

General within such 180-day period; or 

‘‘(ii) applied to the Secretary of Homeland Security 

during such 180-period and before being placed in 

removal proceedings, and the Secretary denied the 

application. 

‘‘(D) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding any other 

law, no court shall have jurisdiction to review any decision 

of the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney 

General on an application under this paragraph or any 

other action or determination of the Secretary of Homeland 

Security or the Attorney General to implement, administer, 

or enforce this paragraph. 

‘‘(E) PROCEDURE.—The requirements of chapter 5 of 

title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 

Administrative Procedure Act), or any other law relating 

to rulemaking, information collection or publication in the 

Federal Register shall not apply to any action to implement, 

administer or enforce this paragraph.’’. 

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

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

with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined 
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by reference to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 

PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for printing in the 

Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior 

to the vote on passage. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.