[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 7, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Transitional Worker
Classification

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: On October 27, 2009, the Department of Homeland Security
published an interim rule creating a new, temporary, Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-only transitional worker
classification (CW classification) in accordance with title VII of the
Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA). The CW
classification is intended to provide for an orderly transition from
the CNMI permit system to the U.S. Federal immigration system under the
immigration laws of the United States, including the Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA). This final rule implements the CW classification
and establishes that a CW transitional worker is an alien worker who is
ineligible for another classification under the INA and who performs
services or labor for an employer in the CNMI during the five-year
transition period. CNMI employers may now petition for such workers.
The rule also establishes employment authorization incident to CW
status.

DATES: This final rule is effective on October 7, 2011.