Overview
- The Department of Homeland Security published a Federal Register notice that suspends the CNMI Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program and set the suspension to take effect at 2 p.m. EDT on Oct. 30.
- The pause covers new applicants and already approved authorizations while allowing Chinese nationals already in the Northern Mariana Islands to remain until their authorized stays expire.
- DHS said the program lowered vetting because participants were screened by U.S. Customs and Border Protection rather than by State Department consular officers and that more than 3,000 Chinese nationals used EVS‑TAP in fiscal year 2025.
- Officials cited specific law‑enforcement concerns, including prior smuggling from Saipan to Guam and encounters near U.S. military sites, as well as worries the program could be used for birth tourism and intelligence gathering.
- DHS will review the program with the Departments of State and the Interior with no timetable for reinstatement, a move that Republican lawmakers who pressed for the suspension have publicly praised and that may reduce Chinese tourist traffic that local businesses rely on.