By Bryan Manabat
Saipan--Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany has asked Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to end what he calls “a loophole” that allows Chinese nationals to visit the Northern Mariana Islands without a visa.
“Communist Chinese nationals are exploiting a loophole that allows them to enter the NMI without a visa. Many travel there just to give birth on U.S. soil and secure citizenship for their children,” said the lawmaker from Wisconsin. “I’m calling on DHS to shut this down."
Statistics from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. showed that in 2017 and 2018, the number of tourist live births hit more than 550 but gradually declined in the following years. There were 58 tourist births in 2024.
The Wisconsin representative requested DHS to take steps to end the January 2024 rule called the “Guam-Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Visa Waiver Program Automation and Electronic Travel Authorization; Creation of CNMI Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program.”
The CNMI's visa waiver was first red-flagged in 2023 by a group of U.S. lawmakers, who warned that the program has opened the floodgates for illegal activities, including drug trafficking, illegal immigration, organized crime and, possibly, espionage.
But CNMI Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, who has been advocating for more direct flights from China, opposed her colleague's recommendation.
“It’s a carved-out exemption," King-Hinds said of the visa waiver for Chinese tourists. "It’s a tool that has been given to us by the federal government because it recognizes that tourism is our primary industry. And as a small jurisdiction given our remote geography, we are just not competitive from other markets."
Earlier this month, King-Hinds called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to reinstate Annex VI of the U.S.-China Air Transport Agreement, lifting restrictions on scheduled air service between the CNMI and China.
In a letter to newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the CNMI delegate stressed the urgent need for federal action to support the CNMI’s economic recovery by restoring unrestricted international flights.
“When we are to have these conversations, it should be in the context of what’s happening on the ground with regard to CNMI’s economy and the CNMI’s ability to be self-sustainable," King-Hinds said.
The previously paper-based discretionary parole policy for Chinese tourists seeking to enter the Northern Marianas visa-free has been replaced by the Guam-CNMI Electronic Travel Authorization, an automated system that pre-screens Chinese tourists before arriving in the CNMI.
The CNMI’s economy is mainly driven by tourism. Between 2015 and 2020, travelers from China accounted for 40 percent of annual arrivals to the CNMI.
In 2019, arrivals from China totaled more than 180,000. In 2020, it dropped to 18,550, and fell below 200 in 2021 and 2022 resulting from China’s suspension of its approved destination status agreements with Chinese tourists’ destinations.
In August 2023, the China National Tourism Administration reinstated the approved destination status agreements with some countries, including the United States, a policy decision that extends to the CNMI.
However, due to security concerns and heightened geopolitical tensions triggered by China’s growing threats, CNMI Gov. Arnold Palacios announced earlier this year that his administration would "pivot away” from reliance on the China market.
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