(Office of the CNMI Congressional Delegate) — U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan said the USCIS decision Tuesday to recognize that Marianas employers of CW-1 workers were being hurt by delays in processing Temporary Labor Certifications was needed and would be welcome by the business community. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would not consider certain petitions to renew CW-1 visas late if the petitions had been held up by the backlog at the U.S. Department of Labor.
“Marianas employers have been rightly concerned about the status of their CW workers, given the long wait to obtain Temporary Labor Certifications this year,” Congressman Sablan said. “I have been meeting with the U.S. Department of Labor to get them to move faster on the labor certifications.
“I also informed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the problem and ask that he use his discretionary authority to allow current CW-I visa holders to continue to work and remain lawfully present in the Northern Marianas if their employer had filed for a Temporary Labor Certifications in a timely manner.
“I very much appreciate my message got through and USCIS provided this relief today.”
Certification process protects US workers
Under terms of the U.S. Workforce Act, Public Law 115-218, obtaining a CW-1 visa for a foreign worker first requires certification from the Department of Labor that no U.S. worker is available in the Marianas for a job. Only after that Temporary Labor Certifications is issued may the employer then apply to USCIS to issue a one-year CW-1 visa.
This year, however, because of a larger than normal number of Temporary Labor Certifications for employers of foreign workers nationwide under the H visa category, the Department of Labor fell behind in issuing certifications for CW-1 employers. As a result, some CW-1 visas expired before petitions for renewal could be filed.
USCIS will now excuse late filings of CW-1 petitions for employers who applied for the required Temporary Labor Certification with the Department of Labor at least 60 days before the start data for the renewal. The certification must have been approved; and USCIS must receive the petition within 30 days of that approval or by November 15.
“In the meantime, our discussions with Labor have resulted in progress on the backlog of applications for certification,” Sablan said.
“The department reports to me they have dedicated all available staff to processing certifications needed by CW-1 petitioners, and that, as a result, as of October 14 they have issued first actions for all cases filed in May, June, July, and August and for 82 percent of cases filed in September.
“This means that certifications for 3,055 workers have been issued over this application period, although 2,309 still remain pending,” Sablan added.
“USCIS has also committed to me that they are staffed up and ready to process the surge of approved Temporary Labor Certifications, now expected.
“Today’s action, determining that CW petitions delayed by the Department of Labor will not be considered late, if certain criteria are met, should provide much needed relief to employers and to their foreign workers, as well,” Congressman Sablan said.
A link to the USCIS announcement can be found at https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/filing-guidance-for-cw-1-petitions-seeking-to-extend-status
