THE Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program or EVS-TAP has resumed processing CNMI visa requests, U.S. Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds said on Thursday.
In a video statement, King-Hinds said, “This is good news for the CNMI.”
“So last night, before I went to bed, I was getting news from the ground — from the tour operators themselves — that we were seeing some movement on the EVS-TAP applications,” she said.
“Specifically, we were seeing approvals of applications submitted in April, and then we saw a trickle of more recently submitted applications being approved — one as recent as a July submission. So this is good news, but that doesn’t mean our work stops when it comes to making sure the program remains viable,” King-Hinds said.
“We are excited about this news because it means customers are coming to support our hotel and tourism industry … and the work continues. We will keep pushing hard to make sure the program remains viable,” the congresswoman added.
In a separate statement, Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Jamika Taijeron said: “This is a critical and welcome development. Now that federal approvals have resumed, we are cautiously optimistic about the program’s potential to support our visitor economy in a meaningful way. At the same time, MVA is actively working to gather additional information and insights to ensure this progress is sustainable and that the system remains reliable in the long term.”
In a previous statement, the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands said: “Visitor arrivals to the Marianas continue to decline due to several factors, including intense flight competition in the primary source market of South Korea and the sudden halt in EVS-TAP application processing for Chinese citizens by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since April.”
Many local officials have also expressed concern over the delayed EVS-TAP processing, which had negatively impacted tourist arrivals from China.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection abruptly stopped processing travelers’ applications under the CNMI EVS-TAP in April — without prior notice.
