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Permanent residency program backed
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Posted on Sep 21 2005
The Department of Commerce is pushing for a permanent residency program for certain groups of nonresidents, believing that it will offer a better return for the local economy in the long run.
Commerce economic development analyst and public information officer Glen Manglona disclosed yesterday that the department is recommending the implementation of the permanent residency status for students, retirees and professionals for technical and managerial occupations.
Permanent residency would allow them to stay, work, or study on island and be treated as permanent residents.
Nonresident workers are currently issued annual permits to work in the CNMI, which is renewed on a yearly basis.
Manglona agreed that the proposal would be “controversial” in view of possible opposition from some groups, but he said that “we’re putting this forward as a recommendation that is open for discussion.”
“It may be controversial but like what I said, it’s something that we need to look into in order to get our economy moving forward. We need people here, skilled and educated people. It’s our resource to bring this economy up,” he said.
He noted that the local economy would reap greater benefits if nonresident workers, for instance, get to spend more of their money on island.
As it is, he said, nonresident workers earn the money here but send most of it to their families overseas.
“They would be treated as residents. In the end, the beneficiary is the local community, the people here, because they would be renting houses, leasing lands. They will invest here,” he said.
There are about 40,000 nonresident workers in the CNMI, who remit an average of $60 million a year to their families back home. They come from China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, among other countries.
