DHS Suspends Visa-Free EVS-TAP Program for Chinese Nationals Visiting the Northern Mariana Islands: Visa Required for Travel to Saipan From October 30; More Than 3,000 Used the Program in Fiscal 2025
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed a formal notice with the Federal Register on October 26 in which Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin decided to suspend the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP), which allows prescreened nationals of the People's Republic of China to travel to the CNMI without a visa for temporary visits. The notice is scheduled for publication on October 27, and the suspension takes effect at 2 p.m. EDT on the third day after publication, Friday, October 30.
EVS-TAP was created by DHS in a 2024 interim final rule and implemented on February 20, 2025, replacing the previous case-by-case parole policy for Chinese nationals. Under the program, Chinese nationals prescreened by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) could enter the CNMI without a visa for a maximum of 14 days per visit, with travel authorizations valid for one year. Holders could enter only the CNMI — not Guam, the mainland or any other U.S. location — and were vetted by CBP instead of by a State Department consular officer through the visa process.
The notice states that the suspension applies both to new applicants and to previously approved travelers with an existing EVS-TAP travel authorization, which are revoked. Chinese nationals already admitted under EVS-TAP and legally present in the CNMI on the effective date may remain for their current authorized period of stay, but will need to obtain a visa for any future travel. From the effective time, Chinese nationals seeking to travel to the CNMI temporarily for business or pleasure must obtain an appropriate nonimmigrant visa before traveling, unless another lawful exception applies, and the prior parole policy discontinued on February 20, 2025 will not be reinstated. DHS said it will evaluate the program in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Interior during the suspension, and the notice sets no end date.
DHS gave national security and law enforcement risks as its primary reason. The notice says more than 3,000 PRC nationals used EVS-TAP to enter the CNMI in fiscal year 2025, and that this volume of visa-exempt entries presents unacceptable security and law enforcement risks, judging that PRC nationals are almost certainly exploiting the program. It says EVS-TAP may be exploited to facilitate PRC espionage and intelligence collection directed against sensitive U.S. defense infrastructure in the region: the Department of War is restoring the Tinian Air Base in the CNMI, and neighboring Guam is home to several military installations critical to homeland defense. Despite the strict prohibition on travel beyond the CNMI, the notice cites illegal onward travel by smuggling vessel to Guam — in March 2024 a PRC national was sentenced for conspiring to transport nine PRC nationals from Saipan to Guam, and in February 2025 another PRC national was sentenced for conspiring to transport seven, most of whom were later encountered in or near sensitive military installations.
The notice lists two further grounds. One is birth tourism: it says birth tourism has long been an issue in the CNMI, that visa-exempt travel and reduced vetting under EVS-TAP may lower barriers to the practice, and that it can strain the islands' medical infrastructure. The other is the CNMI's history of PRC-linked criminal activity: the notice cites a Saipan casino development linked to money laundering and labor abuses, whose temporary facility reported more than $2 billion in monthly VIP bets and whose executives were later indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charges, saying that facilitating visa-exempt access contributes to an unacceptable risk of fueling organized criminal networks, financial crimes and labor abuses.
DHS said the Secretary considered the reliance interests of CNMI businesses and affected travelers, acknowledging that some businesses built plans around tourism and commercial travel under EVS-TAP or the prior parole policy and that prospective travelers may face inconvenience or financial loss. It said bona fide visitors for business or pleasure remain able to obtain a nonimmigrant visa, and determined that the identified risks to national security, immigration and law enforcement interests outweigh those economic and personal interests. The notice lists Melanie Mataxas of CBP's Traveler Authorization and Communications Program Management Office as the contact for further information.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：北马里亚纳群岛 Saipan 的 Forbidden Island 附近海岸（资料图）。照片：David Burdick，美国国家海洋和大气管理局 NOAA 照片库，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Coast near Forbidden Island, Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (file photo). Photo by David Burdick, NOAA Photo Library, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
