DHS Ends Visa-Free Travel for Chinese Visitors to Northern Mariana Islands Friday, Citing Espionage, Birth Tourism and Smuggling Risks

The Department of Homeland Security is suspending a program that lets prescreened Chinese nationals visit the Northern Mariana Islands without a visa, citing risks of espionage near U.S. military sites, birth tourism and smuggling to Guam.

The suspension takes effect at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, Oct. 30, according to a notice signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. It applies to new applicants and to travelers who already hold an approved travel authorization, which the notice revokes.

What the Visa-Free Travel Suspension Does

The program, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program, or EVS-TAP, took effect Feb. 20, 2025. It allowed nationals of the People's Republic of China, after electronic screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to visit the U.S. territory without a visa for temporary stays, on the condition that they not travel to other parts of the United States. It replaced an earlier policy under which CBP paroled Chinese visitors into the islands case by case.

Under the notice, Chinese visitors will need a regular nonimmigrant visa, which involves a consular interview, fingerprints and other biometrics. Travelers already in the islands under the program may stay for their current authorized period but will need a visa for any future trip. The notice says the suspension does not bring back the earlier parole policy.

Federal law lets the Secretary suspend the Guam-CNMI visa waiver for a country at any time for "good cause." The notice says DHS will evaluate the program with the State and Interior departments during the suspension. It does not say how long that will take.

What the Notice Cites

The notice says more than 3,000 Chinese nationals entered the islands under the program in fiscal year 2025, citing internal CBP arrival and departure data, and that they were "vetted through CBP instead of by a State Department consular officer." DHS "judges that PRC nationals are almost certainly exploiting EVS-TAP," the notice states.

It points to the military's restoration of the Tinian Air Base and to installations on nearby Guam, and cites two smuggling cases announced by the U.S. Attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands: a March 2024 sentencing involving nine Chinese nationals moved from the islands to Guam, and a February 2025 sentencing involving seven. The notice says the first case came before EVS-TAP began and describes such cases as incidents involving Chinese nationals who used "the former parole process or other streamlined travel." It says most of those smuggled were later encountered "in or near sensitive military installations."

On birth tourism, the notice says the practice "has long been an issue" in the islands and that visa-free travel "may lower barriers" to it. It gives no figures on births to program travelers, on travelers who stayed past their permitted time, or on asylum claims. The notice also cites past money laundering and labor abuses tied to a casino operation on Saipan run by a Chinese company.

Business Impact Acknowledged

DHS acknowledged that some businesses in the islands "may have developed business plans based on tourism and commercial travel" from the program, and that Chinese travelers "may be inconvenienced or face financial loss." The department said those effects are reduced because bona fide visitors can still apply for visas, and that the risks it identified "outweigh any countervailing personal or economic interests."

Sources: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, "Suspension of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP)," 91 Fed. Reg. 67595, Oct. 27, 2026 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/27/2026-21880/suspension-of-the-commonwealth-of-the-northern-mariana-islands-cnmi-economic-vitality-and-security). Cover photo: aerial view of Saipan by P. Miller, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.