IB 

Union Calendar No. 217 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1466 

[Report No. 112–319, Part I] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 8, 2011 

Mr. SABLAN (for himself, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

DECEMBER 8, 2011 

Additional sponsors: Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. BOREN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. SIRES, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. 

GUTIERREZ, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BACA, Ms. BORDALLO, 

Mr. STARK, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CHU, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, 

Mr. PALLONE, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. REYES, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

FARR, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. RANGEL, 

Ms. FUDGE, Mr. RAHALL, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Ms. CLARKE of 

New York, Mr. CLAY, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 

DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. BASS of California, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, and Mr. COHEN

DECEMBER 8, 2011 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 8, 2011 

The Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee on 

the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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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. 


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

3 SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 

4 The purpose of this Act is to provide to certain per5 sons residing in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar6 iana Islands a status applicable solely within the Common7 wealth in order to allow such persons to remain lawfully 

8 in the Commonwealth. 

9 SEC. 2. TECHNICAL AND CLARIFYING AMENDMENTS RE10 LATED TO REFORM IN THE COMMONWEALTH 

11 OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 

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

13 Joint Resolution to approve the ‘Covenant to Establish a 

14 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Polit15 ical Union with the United States of America’, and for 

16 other purposes’’, approved March 24, 1976 (48 U.S.C. 

17 1806(e)), as added by section 702 of the Consolidated 

18 Natural Resources Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–229; 

19 1222 Stat. 854), is amended by inserting after paragraph 

20 (5) the following: 

21 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL PROVISION REGARDING LONG

22 TERM RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH.— 

23 ‘‘(A) CNMI-ONLY RESIDENT STATUS.— 

24 Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an alien de25 scribed in subparagraph (C) may, upon the apVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:41 Dec 08, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.RH H1466

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1 plication of the alien, be admitted as an immi2 grant to the Commonwealth subject to the fol3 lowing rules: 

4 ‘‘(i) The alien shall be treated as a 

5 permanent resident of the Commonwealth 

6 only, including permitting entry to and exit 

7 from the Commonwealth, until the earlier 

8 of the date that— 

9 ‘‘(I) the alien ceases to perma10 nently reside in the Commonwealth; 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(II) the alien’s status is ad13 justed under this section or section 

14 245 of the Immigration and Nation15 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) to that of 

16 an alien lawfully admitted for perma17 nent residence, as defined under sec18 tion 101(a)(20) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

19 1101(a)(20)), if the alien is otherwise 

20 eligible for such an adjustment. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Unless otherwise authorized, the 

22 alien shall not be permitted to travel to, or 

23 reside in, any part of the United States, as 

24 defined in section 101(a)(38) of such Act 


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1 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(38)), other than the 

2 Commonwealth. 

3 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary of Homeland Se4 curity shall establish a process for such 

5 aliens to apply for CNMI-only permanent 

6 resident status during the 90-day period 

7 beginning on the first day of the sixth 

8 month after the date of the enactment of 

9 this Act. 

10 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY TO WAIVE CERTAIN REG11 ULATORY REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements 

12 of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code 

13 (commonly referred to as the ‘Administrative 

14 Procedure Act’), chapter 35 of title 44, United 

15 States Code (commonly referred to as the ‘Pa16 perwork Reduction Act’), or any other law re17 lating to rulemaking, information collection, or 

18 publication in the Federal Register, shall not 

19 apply to any action to implement subparagraph 

20 (A) to the extent the Secretary of Homeland 

21 Security determines that compliance with any 

22 such requirement would impede the expeditious 

23 implementation of such paragraph. 

24 ‘‘(C) ALIENS DESCRIBED.—An alien is de25 scribed in this subparagraph if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the alien is otherwise admissible 

2 to the United States under the Immigra3 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

4 seq.); 

5 ‘‘(ii) the alien resided in the Common6 wealth— 

7 ‘‘(I) on November 28, 2009; and 

8 ‘‘(II) on the date of the enact9 ment of this Act; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) the alien— 

11 ‘‘(I) was born in the Northern 

12 Mariana Islands between January 1, 

13 1974, and January 9, 1978; 

14 ‘‘(II) was, on May 8, 2008, a 

15 permanent resident as that term is 

16 defined in section 4303 of Title 3 of 

17 the Northern Mariana Islands Com18 monwealth Code in effect on May 8, 

19 2008; 

20 ‘‘(III) is the spouse or child, as 

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

22 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

23 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)), of an alien de24 scribed in subclauses (I) or (II); or 


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1 ‘‘(IV) was, on May 8, 2008, an 

2 immediate relative, as that term is de3 fined in section 4303 of Title 3 of the 

4 Northern Mariana Islands Common5 wealth Code in effect on May 8, 2008, 

6 of a United States citizen, not with7 standing the age of the United States 

8 citizen, and continues to be such an 

9 immediate relative on the date of the 

10 application described under subpara11 graph (A). 

12 ‘‘(D) ADJUSTMENT FOR LONG TERM AND

13 PERMANENT RESIDENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An alien described 

15 in clauses (I), (II), or (III) of subpara16 graph (C)(iii) may apply to receive an im17 migrant visa or to adjust his or her status 

18 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for 

19 permanent residence on or after January 

20 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2016. 

21 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRANT

22 VISAS.—Upon the granting of an immi23 grant visa or approval of an application for 

24 permanent residence to an alien under this 

25 subparagraph, the Secretary of State shall 


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1 reduce by one the total number of diversity 

2 immigrant visas authorized to be issued 

3 under section 201(e) of the Immigration 

4 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(e)) for 

5 the fiscal year then current. 

6 ‘‘(iii) FEES.—With respect to applica7 tions for CNMI-only permanent resident 

8 status, an immigrant visa or to adjust sta9 tus to that of an alien lawfully admitted 

10 for permanent residence submitted by an 

11 alien described in clause (iii) of subpara12 graph (C), the Secretary of State and the 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security— 

14 ‘‘(I) may, in the discretion of 

15 each such Secretary, reduce the fees 

16 collected from the alien for CNMI17 only permanent resident status, an 

18 immigrant visa, or an adjustment of 

19 status; and 

20 ‘‘(II) shall, if applicable, waive 

21 the affidavit of support requirement 

22 under section 213A of such Act (8 

23 U.S.C. 1183a) and subparagraphs 

24 (B)(ii) and (C)(ii) of section 


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1 212(a)(4) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

2 1182(a)(4)).’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 217 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1466 

[Report No. 112–319, Part I] 

A BILL 

To resolve the status of certain persons legally rethe United States. Mariana Islands under the immigration laws of siding in the Commonwealth of the Northern 

DECEMBER 8, 2011 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 8, 2011 

The Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed 

the Union and ordered to be printed to the Committee on the Whole House on the State of 


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