With rules and regulations governing the implementation of Public Law 115-218 still nowhere in sight, the CNMI Department of Labor has advised companies petitioning workers under the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker program to stop waiting and start working on renewals.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy tip to businesses waiting for CW regulations is, if I were them, I will not wait. I would get to work on working on renewals because it\u2019s as if all our lives are on hold and we\u2019re not sure after going through the process whether you\u2019ll be approved or not approved. We don\u2019t really know,\u201d said Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Saipan Tribune last Tuesday, the local Labor chief said businesses and their human resources departments should thoroughly read and review the interim final rule for P.L. 115-218.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IFR is 160 pages\u2026I read it and I said to myself, \u2018Boy, this is not going be easy for businesses,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For all intents and purposes, Benavente said the processes is no walk in the park.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor contract workers, do step 1-4 of IFR, get the prevailing wage, get temporary labor certification, advertise in our (CNMI Labor) website, and then apply for the actual working permit. But even with that process, I\u2019m hearing from employers that there\u2019s sometimes no responses online by the office, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and other federal agencies,\u201d said Benavente.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump signed P.L. 115-218, or the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018, in July last year. That threw out the old rules on how the CW program will be implemented and gave U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 60 days to come out with the new law\u2019s implementing rules and regulations. <\/p>\n
That has not happened yet and last month, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which governs USCIS, to help the CNMI in the publication of the implementing rules and regulations.<\/p>\n
The law extended the CW-1 program to the year 2029 and set a numerical cap for each fiscal year until then: 13,000 (FY 2019), 12,500 (2020), 12,000 (2021), 11,500 (2022), 11,000 (2023), 10,000 (2024), 9,000 (2025), 8,000 (2026), 7,000 (2027), 6,000 (2028), 5,000 (2029), and 1,000 (first quarter of fiscal year 2030).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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