Extension of CW Program Unlikely

The chance of the federal government extending the CW program is unlikely, according to Micronesia attorney, Janet King, who says that the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) leaders should start looking for ways to work within the framework of existing US immigration. King, who is an American Immigration Lawyers Association member, says that the current CW program is a special non-immigrant employment-based US visa, which was created solely for the CNMI.

King notes that the CW program was always intended to be a temporary solution while CNMI immigration law transferred to federal immigration law to sustain the local economy and that its end date was clearly defined. Although King would support extending the program beyond its current end date of 31 December 2019, she believes it is unlikely but says there are two possible solutions to the issue.

One solution, King believes, would be for the CNMI to submit a bill to extend the end date through the US Congress, or which passes a new law recreating the existing program, which she admits is unlikely. Another possible solution would be for the CW’s US Congress delegate and governor to work within the current framework of US immigration.

King believes that representatives should push for the premium processing of CW US visas in categories including H-1B, H-2B, EB-2, and EB-3, among others, for at least the next two years, to lessen the impact of the CW1 program coming to an end.