DHS Suspends Visa-Free Travel for Chinese Nationals to Northern Mariana Islands Starting Oct. 30

The Department of Homeland Security is shutting down visa-free travel for Chinese nationals to the Northern Mariana Islands. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin signed the notice, which was filed Monday, Oct. 26, and is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Oct. 27.

The suspension takes effect at 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, Oct. 30.

What the program was

The program is the CNMI Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program, known as EVS-TAP. It was created in 2024 and became operational on Feb. 20, 2025, replacing an earlier parole policy for Chinese travelers to the territory.

Eligible visitors could stay up to 14 days for business or tourism, with travel authorizations valid for one year. They were barred from traveling to Guam, the U.S. mainland or other U.S. destinations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection screened them. No State Department consular officer did.

DHS says more than 3,000 Chinese nationals entered the Northern Marianas through the program in fiscal year 2025.

What changes on Oct. 30

New applications will no longer be accepted. Existing authorizations, including those already approved, are suspended.

Chinese nationals already in the territory under the program can stay through the end of their authorized period. Future visits will generally require a standard U.S. nonimmigrant visa.

DHS also confirmed the suspension does not bring back the pre-February 2025 parole arrangement. Visitors go through the regular visa process.

The department said it will review the program in consultation with the State and Interior departments. The notice sets no date for finishing that review and does not say whether the program could be reinstated, modified or ended permanently.

The security case DHS makes

The notice is blunt. "DHS judges that PRC nationals are almost certainly exploiting EVS-TAP," it says, and the volume of visa-exempt entries "presents unacceptable security and law enforcement risks."

DHS says the program "may be exploited to facilitate PRC espionage and intelligence collection directed against sensitive U.S. defense infrastructure in the region." It points out that the Department of War is restoring the Tinian Air Base and that neighboring Guam hosts several installations "critical to homeland defense."

The notice also addresses the Guam travel ban. Though EVS-TAP barred visitors from going beyond the territory, DHS says they "have the ability to illegally travel from the CNMI to Guam aboard smuggling vessels."

It cites two federal sentencings, in March 2024 and February 2025, of Chinese nationals who smuggled nine and seven other Chinese nationals, respectively, from the Northern Marianas to Guam. DHS says most of the people involved in the second case were later found in or near sensitive military installations.

The notice also cites the territory's history of PRC-linked criminal activity, including money laundering and labor abuses tied to a Chinese-run casino operation in Saipan.

Birth tourism

DHS says the availability of visa-exempt travel and reduced vetting under EVS-TAP "may lower barriers" to traveling to the islands to give birth. It adds that birth tourism can strain the territory's medical system.

The notice does not give a number of births tied to travelers who entered through EVS-TAP. DHS frames birth tourism as a risk the program could facilitate, not as a documented count.

The program was intended to support tourism in the territory while maintaining security controls. DHS acknowledged that CNMI businesses dependent on Chinese tourism, and prospective travelers, may face losses, but said the "acute risks" outweighed them.

Who pushed for it

Republican lawmakers had been pressing for this. Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana sent an April 22 letter to Mullin and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

The senators wrote that they "strongly urge" ending the program, "a benefit that should not be afforded to a recalcitrant country like Communist China." They also encouraged ending Hong Kong's participation in the broader G-CNMI visa waiver program.

The suspension announced covers EVS-TAP.

Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin had raised concerns in March, according to Roy's office. Lee posted on X: "America is not a nursery for the CCP to steal citizenship." Roy's office said it was pleased the administration "closed this dangerous loophole."

The timeline

The program went live on Feb. 20, 2025. More than 3,000 entries were logged in fiscal year 2025 alone.

The smuggling cases DHS cites were sentenced in March 2024 and February 2025. The incidents cited in the notice occurred before the travel authorization program was implemented, and the notice does not say how many smuggled migrants entered the territory through EVS-TAP itself.

That leaves open what DHS's review will produce. The notice gives no deadline, and the territory's tourism-dependent economy now faces a visa requirement for one group of visitors. Whether the department restores any version of the program is a decision that remains to be made in consultation with State and Interior.