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Bangladeshis barred from entering NMI
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Posted on Sep 01 2005
Beginning this month, Bangladeshi nationals may no longer travel to the CNMI, as part of the Commonwealth government’s precaution against the alarming rate of document fraud in Bangladesh.
The Attorney General’s Office said the government began to enforce the immigration ban on Bangladeshis beginning yesterday. However, the ban will not cover Bangladeshi nationals who are already lawfully staying in the CNMI.
Assistant attorney general Ian Catlett said Bangladesh remains on the list of excluded locations, the citizens of which may not travel into the CNMI unless they secure a waiver of exclusion from the AGO and comply with other immigration requirements.
With the new policy, Bangladeshis may no longer apply for waiver of exclusion.
“This action has been taken due to the inability of CNMI or U.S. officials to verify the authenticity of travel documents from that country,” Catlett said.
“Document fraud in Bangladesh has become an increasingly alarming problem and this step is necessary to ensure that all persons crossing the CNMI border are properly identifiable,” he added.
Before the adoption of the new policy, the AGO has been imposing stricter requirements for entry by aliens coming from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, among other countries on the excluded list.
The CNMI’s immigration regulations require aliens embarking from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to obtain from their respective Immigration authorities a letter guaranteeing their expedited reentry to those countries.
Excluded locations also include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Fujian Province of China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Myanmar, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
