[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1466 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1466

   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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

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

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to provide to certain persons residing 
in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands a status applicable 
solely within the Commonwealth in order to allow such persons to remain 
lawfully in the Commonwealth.

SEC. 2. TECHNICAL AND CLARIFYING AMENDMENTS RELATED TO REFORM IN 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(e)), as added by section 702 of the Consolidated Natural Resources 
Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-229; 1222 Stat. 854), is amended by 
inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) Special provision regarding long term residents of 
        the commonwealth.--
                    ``(A) CNMI-only resident status.--Notwithstanding 
                paragraph (1), an alien described in subparagraph (C) 
                may, upon the application of the alien, be admitted as 
                an immigrant to the Commonwealth subject to the 
                following rules:
                            ``(i) The alien shall be treated as a 
                        permanent resident of the Commonwealth only, 
                        including permitting entry to and exit from the 
                        Commonwealth, until the earlier of the date 
                        that--
                                    ``(I) the alien ceases to 
                                permanently reside in the Commonwealth; 
                                or
                                    ``(II) the alien's status is 
                                adjusted under this section or section 
                                245 of the Immigration and Nationality 
                                Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) to that of an alien 
                                lawfully admitted for permanent 
                                residence, as defined under section 
                                101(a)(20) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 
                                1101(a)(20)), if the alien is otherwise 
                                eligible for such an adjustment.
                            ``(ii) Unless otherwise authorized, the 
                        alien shall not be permitted to travel to, or 
                        reside in, any part of the United States, as 
                        defined in section 101(a)(38) of such Act (8 
                        U.S.C. 1101(a)(38)), other than the 
                        Commonwealth.
                            ``(iii) The Secretary of Homeland Security 
                        shall establish a process for such aliens to 
                        apply for CNMI-only permanent resident status 
                        during the 90-day period beginning on the first 
                        day of the sixth month after the date of the 
                        enactment of this Act.
                    ``(B) Authority to waive certain regulatory 
                requirements.--The requirements of chapter 5 of title 
                5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 
                `Administrative Procedure Act'), chapter 35 of title 
                44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 
                `Paperwork Reduction Act'), or any other law relating 
                to rulemaking, information collection, or publication 
                in the Federal Register, shall not apply to any action 
                to implement subparagraph (A) to the extent the 
                Secretary of Homeland Security determines that 
                compliance with any such requirement would impede the 
                expeditious implementation of such paragraph.
                    ``(C) Aliens described.--An alien is described in 
                this subparagraph if--
                            ``(i) the alien is otherwise admissible to 
                        the United States under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.);
                            ``(ii) the alien resided in the 
                        Commonwealth--
                                    ``(I) on November 28, 2009; and
                                    ``(II) on the date of the enactment 
                                of this Act; and
                            ``(iii) the alien--
                                    ``(I) was born in the Northern 
                                Mariana Islands between January 1, 
                                1974, and January 9, 1978;
                                    ``(II) was, on May 8, 2008, a 
                                permanent resident as that term is 
                                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 subclauses (I) or (II); or
                                    ``(IV) was, on May 8, 2008, an 
                                immediate relative, as that term is 
                                defined in section 4303 of Title 3 of 
                                the Northern Mariana Islands 
                                Commonwealth Code in effect on May 8, 
                                2008, of a United States citizen, not 
                                withstanding the age of the United 
                                States citizen, and continues to be 
                                such an immediate relative on the date 
                                of the application described under 
                                subparagraph (A).
                    ``(D) Adjustment for long term and permanent 
                residents.--
                            ``(i) In general.--An alien described in 
                        clauses (I), (II), or (III) of subparagraph 
                        (C)(iii) may apply to receive an immigrant visa 
                        or to adjust his or her status to that of an 
                        alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence 
                        on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 
                        1, 2016.
                            ``(ii) Allocation of immigrant visas.--Upon 
                        the granting of an immigrant visa or approval 
                        of an application for permanent residence to an 
                        alien under this subparagraph, the Secretary of 
                        State shall reduce by one the total number of 
                        diversity immigrant visas authorized to be 
                        issued under section 201(e) of the Immigration 
                        and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(e)) for the 
                        fiscal year then current.
                            ``(iii) Fees.--With respect to applications 
                        for CNMI-only permanent resident status, an 
                        immigrant visa or to adjust status to that of 
                        an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 
                        residence submitted by an alien described in 
                        clause (iii) of subparagraph (C), the Secretary 
                        of State and the Secretary of Homeland 
                        Security--
                                    ``(I) may, in the discretion of 
                                each such Secretary, reduce the fees 
                                collected from the alien for CNMI-only 
                                permanent resident status, an immigrant 
                                visa, or an adjustment of status; and
                                    ``(II) shall, if applicable, waive 
                                the affidavit of support requirement 
                                under section 213A of such Act (8 
                                U.S.C. 1183a) and subparagraphs (B)(ii) 
                                and (C)(ii) of section 212(a)(4) of 
                                such Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(4)).''.
                                 <all>