Walter Haith, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services field office director for Guam and the CNMI, confirmed to Variety that about 14 to 17 individuals will be heading to the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands for a naturalization ceremony.
He also told Variety that one of the 17 individuals is serving in the U.S. armed forces.
“For the first time, in my knowledge, that a U.S. military personnel will become a naturalized U.S. citizen on Saipan,” said Haith.
According to the USCIS website, “Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen or national after he or she fulfills the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act. In most cases, an applicant for naturalization must be a permanent resident (green card holder) before filing. Except for certain U.S. military members and their dependents, naturalization can only be granted in the United States.”
The USCIS website also stated that to qualify, an applicant must have been a permanent resident for at least 5 years and meet all other eligibility requirements; a resident for three years or more and meet all eligibility requirements to file as a spouse of a U.S. citizen; or qualifying service in the U.S. armed forces and meet all eligibility requirements; children of U.S. citizens residing outside the U.S. may qualify for naturalization U.S. by meeting all eligibility requirements. (For more information on the naturalization process, check www.uscis.gov).
USCIS still processes applications for advance parole, parole, and parole-in-place documents.
Haith said, “Our office has currently received 7,000 requests for advance parole documents.”
Their goal, he said, is to expedite processing of applications in 10 working days.
He also told Variety that their office has processed 360 parole-in-place documents.
He said the parole-in-place document is for CNMI workers who failed to secure their umbrella permits when these were issued before Nov. 27, 2009.
USCIS currently has 12 federal employees and three contractors at the Guam office and two federal employees and two contractors at USCIS Saipan office.
