USCIS Issues Guidance on H Nonimmigrants in the CNMI and Guam

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has provided guidance for processing and adjudicating the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129) filed on behalf of H-1B specialty occupation and H-2B temporary nonagricultural workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Guam. The memo notes that H-1B and H-2B workers in the CNMI and Guam are exempt from the numerical limitations, or caps, for these categories. To qualify for this exemption under the H-1B classification, the prospective employer’s petition must include a labor condition application (LCA) listing employment or services in the CNMI and/or Guam only. To qualify under the H-2B classification, the petition must include a temporary labor certification (TLC) listing labor or services in the CNMI and/or Guam only.