‘Include China in visa waiver, open DHS office on Tinian’

The Tinian Chamber of Commerce is asking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to include China in the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program and to open an office on Tinian for the processing of federal immigration applications.

In a resolution, the Tinian Chamber of Commerce led by president Phillip Mendiola-Long said Public Law 110-229 or the federalization law establishes two ports of entry on Tinian but does not establish a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on the island to serve its residents and businesses.

The business group said it would cost many small businesses and residents at least $310 per person to travel to Saipan to process USCIS applications.

In 2008 alone, the Department of Labor processed over 1,200 nonresident worker applications on Tinian.

“DHS should open an office on Tinian to provide the same service extended to the businesses on Saipan without subjecting them to additional costs and inconvenience,” said the Tinian Chamber.

The business group said the 180-day delay in the start of federalization implementation to Nov. 28 instead of June 1 allows DHS “sufficient time to address the security issues that would exclude China from the visa waiver program.”

Tinian, which is the only island with an operating casino and at least two more up for construction, is dependent on Chinese tourists, who will not be exempted from the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program by Nov. 28.

“The Tinian Chamber of Commerce members believe that it is in the best interest of the residents of Tinian that DHS include China in the visa waiver program, as it is essential for the survival of Tinian’s casino industry,” said the Chamber.

Approximately 90 percent of commerce on Tinian is derived from the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino, and approximately 70 percent of the casino’s revenue is from the China market.

Tinian Dynasty has over 600 employees and the casino revenue tax from it creates approximately 70 public sector and 100 private sector jobs, the Tinian Chamber said.

The group said the exclusion of China in the visa waiver program will have “irreparable harm on the Dynasty, local economy, and municipal government.”

Besides Mendiola-Long, the other Tinian Chamber of Commerce officers and board members who signed Resolution 2009-02 on April 3 were vice president Don A. Power, secretary Allen M. Perez, and directors Reid Ellis, Jeff Barr, and Jose P. Cruz.

The 37-member Tinian Chamber of Commerce was just revived in February.