U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced updates to the CW-1 petitions. This is a clarification of a policy announced in August 2022. Certain limitations apply and as always, preparation is key.

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USCIS Will Only Consider CW-1 Petitions Approved and with Starting Validity on or after June 18, 2020, when Applying the Temporary Departure Requirement

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is clarifying its Aug. 25, 2020, policy on implementing the requirement that workers leave the United States for at least 30 days after two renewals of their CNMI-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) visa classification.

Effective immediately, the only CW-1 petitions we will classify as consecutive petitions for purposes of the temporary departure requirement are approved CW-1 petitions that have a starting validity date on or after June 18, 2020. Any extension of CW-1 status granted on or after June 18, 2020, will be considered a consecutive petition if the extension has a starting validity date on or after that date (and not backdated before that date).

For example, if we approved a petition on July 1, 2020, but the petition was backdated to grant status from Oct. 1, 2019, we would consider that petition approved as of the earlier validity date of Oct. 1, 2019. Therefore, this petition would not apply toward the temporary departure requirement.

Please see the USCIS Policy Update on CW-1 Departure Requirement page on our website for more information.

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If you have questions about your petition or any other immigration-related issue, contact us at ILBSG. Our team of expert attorneys works with our clients in their specific situations to ensure they get the right advice.

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