U.S. Pulls the Plug on Visa-Free Entry for Chinese Visitors to the Northern Mariana Islands

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What Happened

DHS announced on Tuesday that it is suspending the CNMI Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program, known as EVS-TAP. CNMI stands for Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the western Pacific. The suspension is set to begin at 2 p.m. Eastern time on October 30.

From then on, Chinese citizens who want to visit the islands for business or tourism will need a regular U.S. visa. The suspension also covers travelers who had already been approved. Those already on the islands may stay until their authorized time runs out.

DHS says the suspension will last while it reviews the program together with the State and Interior Departments.

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Why DHS Acted

According to DHS, visa-free entry and lighter screening could make it easier to abuse the system. The department points to four concerns:

• Birth tourism: traveling to the U.S. mainly to give birth so the child receives American citizenship.
• Espionage: the islands host Tinian Air Base, and Guam, nearby, is home to several U.S. military installations.
• Smuggling: earlier cases in which Chinese nationals were moved by boat from the islands to Guam.
• Other crime: according to Radio New Zealand, the notice also mentions money laundering and labor abuses linked to Chinese-run businesses, including the former Imperial Pacific casino on Saipan.

The program did not allow travel to Guam or the U.S. mainland. DHS acknowledges that the smuggling cases involved older arrangements, but argues they show a weakness that the newer program did not remove. DHS also says economic benefits for local businesses do not outweigh these risks.

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Pressure from Congress

The decision follows months of pressure from Republican lawmakers. In April, Senators Mike Lee, Rick Scott, John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy wrote to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. They called the program a security risk and pointed to Chinese nationals convicted of drug trafficking in the islands.

In March, 34 House members had made a similar appeal. Lee thanked President Trump publicly after the announcement.

The suspension also fits a wider push. A State Department task force launched on August 12 had revoked more than 750 visas tied to suspected birth tourism by late August, according to Fox News.

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The Other Side of the Story

The islands' leaders see it differently. Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, the CNMI's representative in Congress, stresses that the program is "suspended, not terminated." She says she spoke with the White House and Secretary Mullin, who promised to work with local officials.

Local data also complicate the birth-tourism argument. According to figures cited by the CNMI's hospital system, births to Chinese tourists peaked at 574 in 2018 and fell to 55 in 2024. King-Hinds says this decline came after reforms during Trump's first term.

DHS has not published a number of births linked to EVS-TAP travelers, and no public evidence of espionage under the program has been presented so far.

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Background: A Fragile Economy

Tourism is the backbone of the islands' economy. In 2019, the CNMI welcomed 487,008 visitors, 185,526 of them from China. By fiscal 2025, Chinese arrivals had collapsed to 10,764, according to Radio Free Asia. The causes include a halt in program processing and the aftermath of Super Typhoon Sinlaku in April.

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce argues that EVS-TAP is tightly controlled and that ending it would deepen the islands' economic strain.

There is also a dispute over the program's roots. Fox News calls it a Biden-era creation, and the program did start operating in 2024–2025. Local officials note that it grew out of consultations with the first Trump administration in 2019.

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Outlook

The key question is how long the suspension lasts. DHS has not named a date for the end of its review. Airlines, hotels and tour operators in Saipan now face uncertainty.

For Washington, the case shows how closely security officials now watch Chinese access to U.S. territory near strategic military sites, as Beijing's ruling Communist Party expands its reach in the Pacific. For the islands, it raises the harder question of how to protect both security and livelihoods.

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Sources

1. Fox News: "DHS suspends visa-free travel program for Chinese nationals amid birth tourism, security concerns" – https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dhs-suspends-visa-free-travel-program-chinese-nationals-amid-birth-tourism-security-concerns
2. Radio New Zealand: "US suspends visa-free travel for Chinese visitors to Northern Marianas" – https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/2187263/us-suspends-visa-free-travel-for-chinese-visitors-to-northern-marianas
3. Isla Public Media KPRG (Public Radio Guam), Oct. 27, 2026: "CNMI delegate urges path forward as DHS halts Chinese travel program" – https://www.islapublic.org/news/2026-10-27/cnmi-delegate-urges-path-forward-as-dhs-halts-chinese-travel-program
4. U.S. Senate (Sen. Mike Lee et al.), April 22, 2026: letter urging an end to the program – https://www.energy.senate.gov/2026/4/lee-scott-cornyn-cassidy-urge-trump-administration-to-close-chinese-visa-loophole-in-u-s-territories
5. Radio Free Asia, May 13, 2026: "Ending Chinese visa-free travel may hurt Northern Marianas tourism, residents say" – https://rfa.org/english/pacific/2026/05/13/cnmi-china-visa-waiver-evstap/
6. Isla Public Media KPRG, Jan. 23, 2026: "King-Hinds: CNMI economy at risk if visa programs abruptly changed" – https://www.islapublic.org/news/2026-01-23/king-hinds-cnmi-economy-at-risk-if-visa-programs-abruptly-changed

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