He told reporters yesterday that petitions filed before this date will be rejected.
Processing of petitions at the California Application Center takes about 90 days.
Gulick pointed out that the final rule for transitional workers mandated that petitions be filed by employers with legitimate business in the CNMI.
He also said there is no provision that asked for the minimum number of years in operation of the businesses as long as they are a legitimate, active business involved in commercial, entrepreneurial activity.
The whole petitioning process, he said, was modeled after nonimmigrant temporary employment process with the same type of process and regulations.
“In accordance with statute, employer has to be a legitimate business…entity engaged in commercial and entrepreneurial activity,” he said.
He told reporters that one of the major changes in the final rule compared to the interim rule is clarification on the grant of status process with added provisions to it.
He said the final rule states that no occupational category has been excluded except illegal occupations.
He also stated that consistent with the request of the CNMI government, the visa cap was 22,417. But this number decreases to 22,416 in FY’12.
“I do encourage people to read the comments in reducing the number,” he said.
But the number of workers in the CNMI “is more than enough. There is more room for growth.”
As for the granting of status for one year, he said one of the concerns is the education fee collected.
This fee, to be received by USCIS, will be remitted by the agency monthly to the CNMI government.
He also mentioned that CW-1 worker can bring in his or her spouse and children to the CNMI as dependents.
If CW work is available to spouse, then spouse’s employer can file for her petition.
Minor children, he says, can attend school as CW dependents.
In bringing dependents on island, Gulick said that it is assumed the CW-1 worker is not receiving public benefit, “the person makes enough to support them.”
As for employers filing petition for employees, the employer attests to compliance with CNMI and federal laws relating to conditions of employment like safety laws and minimum wage.
“They are going to have to attest that they believe that the person is not eligible for any other nonimmigrant status; that the employment for which the person is being sought is not temporary or seasonal,” he said.
In reviewing these attestations, he said, the officers will be looking at the qualifications of the person and what the job requires.
In the final rule, there is a provision that an employee can have more than one employer. Both employers he said will file separate petitions for the employee.
In the case of an employee moving to a new employer, he said, the employee can work for the new employer while waiting for the decision on the petition. “You don’t have to be wait for the petition to be decided.”
Among the changes in the final rule, the CW worker status is only valid in the CNMI. The visa issued by the Department of State could only be valid for admission into the CNMI.
As for fees, both interim and final rule provide for fee waivers on account of the economic situation of the employer and on behalf of the beneficiaries.
“This is unusual for an employer based petition,” he said.
Those seeking waivers can file Form I-912 but it is not mandatory.
He reminded too that a nonresident departing the United States need a nonimmigrant visa to come back.
For workers in the CNMI planning to travel, they have to wait for the grant of their status. With a status, they can travel to their country of origin where to obtain a CW visa and use original notice of approval granting CW status as supporting document of the application.
Gulick also said the USCIS offers Q&A in various languages: Chamorro, English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Filipino.
For more information on the regulations, log on to www.uscis.gov.
Correction
Request for group sessions with the USCIS can be coursed through Darlene Kutara, not Darlene Futara as earlier reported, at [email protected].
