CW-1 Visa Eligibility Requirements


There are certain occupational categories that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has determined will require alien workers to supplement the CNMI residential workforce. These occupations include:

  1. Professional, technical, or management occupations;

  2. Clerical and sales operation;

  3. Service occupations;

  4. Agricultural, fisheries, forestry, and related occupations;

  5. Processing occupations;

  6. Machine trade occupations;

  7. Bench work occupations;

  8. Structural work occupations; and

  9. Other miscellaneous occupations.

Both prospective CW-1 employees and their prospective employer must meet general eligibility requirements before they can file a CW petition. In order to qualify for workers with CW status, employers must:

  1. Be engaged in legitimate business. Legitimate business is defined as a real, active, and operating commercial or entrepreneurial undertaking which produces services or goods for profit, or is a governmental, charitable, or other validly recognized nonprofit entity. The business must meet the legal requirements for doing business in the CNMI. A business is considered illegitimate if it engages directly in prostitution, human trafficking, or any other activity that is illegal under Federal or CNMI law;

  2. Consider all available U.S. workers for the position;

  3. Offer terms and conditions of employment consistent with the nature of the employer’s business in the CNMI;

  4. File the necessary forms to hire transitional workers;

  5. Comply with all federal and CNMI requirements relating to employment (examples include nondiscrimination, occupational safety, and minimum wage requirements); and

  6. Pay reasonable transportation costs of the individual to the individual’s last place of foreign residence if the employee is involuntarily dismissed from their job for any reason before the end of the period of authorized status.

According to the USCS, a foreign worker may be classified as a CW-1 non-immigrant worker during the CNMI transition period if he or she:

  1. Is ineligible for any other employment based non-immigrant status under U.S. immigration law;

  2. Will enter or stay in the CNMI to work in an occupational category designated as needed alien workers to supplement the resident workforce;

  3. Is the beneficiary of a petition filed by a legitimate employer who is doing business in the CNMI;

  4. Is not present in the U.S. other than the CNMI; and,

  5. Is lawfully present in the CNMI (if present in the CNMI at the time of the visa request).

In order to affirm that the petitioner and beneficiary meet the necessary requirements, a CW visa petition must be accompanied by the following evidence:

  1. Evidence demonstrating the petitioner meets the definition of eligible employer; and

  2. An attestation by the petitioner certified as trued and accurate by an appropriate official of the petitioner, of the following:

    1. Qualified U.S. workers are not available to fill the position;

    2. The employer is doing legitimate business;

    3. The employer is a legitimate business as defined in 8 CFR 214.2(w)(1)(i);

    4. The beneficiary meets the qualifications for the position;

    5. The beneficiary, if present in the CNMI, is lawfully present in the CNMI;

    6. The position is not temporary or seasonal employment, and the petitioner does not reasonably believe it to qualify for any other nonimmigrant worker classification; and,

    7. The position falls within the list of occupational categories designated by the DHS.

In order to qualify for an extension of stay, the petitioner must demonstrate that the beneficiary has continuously maintained the terms and conditions of their CW-1 status, remains admissible to the United States, and remains eligible for CW-1 classification.

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