Title: Northern Mariana Islands Residents Relief Act
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Northern Mariana Islands Residents Relief Act
This bill grants Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Resident status to certain aliens who have resided continuously and lawfully in the CNMI since November 28, 2009. An individual with such status shall be (1) authorized to work in the CNMI; (2) issued travel documentation; and (3) inadmissible to the United States at any port of entry outside of the CNMI, with the exception of Guam in certain instances.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 560 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 560

     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''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 15, 2019

  Mr. Sablan 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     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 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 
                                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;
                            ``(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);
                                    ``(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 U.S. 
                                Citizenship and Immigration Services;
                                    ``(VI) was admitted to the 
                                Commonwealth as a Commonwealth Only 
                                Transitional Worker during fiscal year 
                                2015, and during every subsequent 
                                fiscal year beginning before the date 
                                of the enactment of the Northern 
                                Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 
                                2018 (Public Law 115-218); or
                                    ``(VII) resided in the Northern 
                                Mariana Islands as an investor under 
                                Commonwealth immigration law, and is 
                                presently resident under E-2 CNMI 
                                Investor Status (E2C).''.
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