US suspends visa-free entry for Chinese visitors to Northern Mariana Islands, citing espionage, birth tourism
Washington, Oct 27 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) The Trump administration is suspending a programme that allowed prescreened Chinese nationals to visit the Northern Mariana Islands without a visa, citing risks of espionage near US military bases, illegal onward travel to Guam and birth tourism.
The suspension of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP) takes effect at 2 pm EDT on October 30, according to a Department of Homeland Security notice in the Federal Register signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
It applies both to new applicants and to “previously approved travelers with an existing EVS-TAP travel authorization”. Chinese nationals already in the CNMI under the programme may stay for their authorised period but “will need to obtain a visa for any future travel”.
The notice said that in fiscal year 2025, “more than 3,000 PRC nationals utilized EVS-TAP to enter the CNMI”. These travellers were vetted by US Customs and Border Protection “instead of by a State Department consular officer”.
“DHS judges that PRC nationals are almost certainly exploiting EVS-TAP,” the notice said, adding that the volume of visa-exempt entries “presents unacceptable security and law enforcement risks”.
The department said the programme “may be exploited to facilitate PRC espionage and intelligence collection directed against sensitive U.S. defense infrastructure in the region”. It noted that the Department of War is restoring the Tinian Air Base, while neighbouring Guam hosts several military installations “critical to homeland defense”.
Although EVS-TAP barred Chinese visitors from going beyond the CNMI, the notice said they “have the ability to illegally travel from the CNMI to Guam aboard smuggling vessels”. It cited two federal sentencings, in March 2024 and February 2025, of Chinese nationals who smuggled nine and seven other Chinese nationals from the CNMI to Guam. Most of them “were later encountered in or near sensitive military installations”, it said.
On birth tourism, the notice said: “While birth tourism has long been an issue in the CNMI, the availability of visa-exempt travel and reduced vetting under EVS-TAP may lower barriers to this practice.” It added that birth tourism “may also be utilized to facilitate long-term intelligence or espionage activities”. The notice did not give the number of births linked to the programme.
DHS also pointed to the CNMI’s history of “PRC-linked criminal activity”, including money laundering and labour abuses tied to a Chinese-run casino operation in Saipan.
The programme, created by a 2024 rule under the Biden administration, took effect on February 20, 2025. It let Chinese visitors stay up to 14 days, with authorisations valid for one year. China had been excluded from the wider Guam-CNMI visa waiver programme since 2009 on “political and security concerns”.
DHS acknowledged that CNMI businesses dependent on Chinese tourism and prospective travellers may face losses, but said the “acute risks” outweighed them. Genuine visitors can still apply for a regular US visa. The suspension does not restore an earlier parole policy for Chinese visitors.
Republican Senator Mike Lee welcomed the move. “America is not a nursery for the CCP to steal citizenship,” he wrote on X, according to Fox News. Senators Lee, Rick Scott, John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy had urged Mullin in April to end the programme, the report said.
The move is part of the administration’s broader push to tighten visa vetting and curb birth tourism.
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