U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a final rule establishing a Transitional Worker (CW) classification for workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The CW classification will allow CNMI employers to hire nonimmigrant workers who are otherwise ineligible to work. In Fiscal Year 2012 (October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012), 22,416 CW visas will be available, and the number of available visas will decrease each year. The visa will not permit the holder to travel or work in any other part of the United States, except for nationals of the Philippines who may, via the Guam airport, travel between the CNMI and the Philippines.

As noted by USCIS in its announcement regarding the program, a foreign worker may be eligible for CW status if he or she is:

• ineligible for a nonimmigrant or immigrant classification under the Immigration and Nationality Act;
• entering or staying in the CNMI to work as a needed foreign national worker to supplement the resident workforce;
• the beneficiary of a petition filed by a legitimate employer who is doing business in the CNMI;
• not present in the United States, other than the CNMI;
• lawfully present in the CNMI or, if not present, intending to enter the CNMI with a visa; and
• admissible to the United States or is granted any necessary waiver of a ground of inadmissibility.

Moreover, an employer may be eligible to petition for a CW worker if it:

• is conducting a legitimate business, as defined in the final rule;
• has considered all available U.S. workers for the position;
• offers terms and conditions of employment consistent with the nature of their business in the CNMI;
• complies with federal and CNMI employment requirements;
• files a Form I-129CW, Petition for CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker, and a CW-1 Classification Supplement with USCIS; and
• submits the appropriate filing fees.

The following fees apply to petitions for CW workers: $325 fee for Form I-129CW; $150 CNMI education funding fee per beneficiary per year; and $85 biometric fee if the worker is located in CNMI.