But the federal government will be exercising total flexibility in many areas that need to be covered during the transition period of the federalization law to accommodate all concerns.
“Once the transition period starts, we will look into every situation and check if we need to put up offices area offices on Tinian or Rota to make it easier for the residents there to process their documents,” said acting deputy director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Michael Ayte.
Meantime, Aytes said the newly opened immigration support center here will accommodate residents of Rota and Tinian.
“We will try to be very flexible, especially during the beginning of the transition period although towards the end we will be stricter then and follow all the regulations like other places in the mainland,” Aytes said.
The Northern Marianas Application Support Center located at the TSL Plaza in Garapan was officially opened on Tuesday morning.
Aytes said the office will have four full time staff members and can accommodate an average of 40 clients each day.
He said the support center offers fingerprinting and biometric services to individuals who are working on their U.S. residency status, and register all documented foreign workers in the CNMI once the transition period of the federalization law begins in June.
Aytes said the support center, which is part of the preparations for the federalization of local immigration as mandated by U.S. Public Law 110-229, also offers federal immigration information appointments for general immigration inquiries.
Clients can make appointments using InfoPass, a free, multilingual web-based system on www.uscis.gov or call the USCIS customer service line (800)-3755283 toll-free from the CNMI.
Aytes was the guest speaker during the Rotary Club meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan on Tuesday.
