Rota and Tinian Outreach Project

The Marianas Office of Micronesian Legal Services has started a one-year project of increased service to Rota and Tinian. “We’re happy to announce that we will be visiting Rota and Tinian much more frequently,” said Jane Mack, Directing Attorney. MLSC provides free legal services in civil cases to low-income people in the CNMI. The outreach project was made possible by federal earmark funding obtained for MLSC by Congressman Gregorio (Kilili) Sablan.


New office space in Tinian: photo by Janet King

“We have always provided service to Rota and Tinian,” Mack said. “We take telephone intakes and exchange documents by fax and e-mail, but our on-island visits have been limited to once a month.” With the new federal earmark, MLSC will increase visits to 3 or 4 times each month during the one-year project term.

It was a long process to get this special funding for MLSC. “The work to obtain this funding began in April 2009 when I submitted a proposal on behalf of Micronesian Legal Services Corporation to the Approriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies,” Congressman Sablan said in a letter to MLSC. “There are literally tens of thousands of these requests from the 441 members of the House of Representatives, so it was a very competitive process.”

The Marianas Office receives most of its funding from the federal government through the Legal Services Corporation, and it has also received some local government support. “We’ve been fortunate that the local CNMI government has helped us,” Mack said. “Even in the years when the CNMI local government has not been able to provide us direct funding, it has allowed us the use of office space convenient to the people in our community.” When this one year project ends, the Marianas Office will continue to provide legal representation to the residents of Rota and Tinian in the usual way with its LSC funding and local support.

Under the outreach project, MLSC attorney Dimitri Varmazis will provide service to Rota, while attorney Linda Wingenbach visits Tinian. Paralegal Polly Anne Sablan will visit both islands to work on US citizenship and immigration status issues.

Mr. Varmazis has scheduled visits to Rota at the Courthouse for Friday October 22; Friday, November 5 (with Polly Anne); Tuesday, November 9; and Thursday, November 18. “We’ll be looking for office space in Rota to make our services conveniently available to everyone,” Varmazis said.

The Marianas Office has already obtained office space in Tinian at the first floor of the PM Building (about halfway between JC Café and the courthouse). Ms. Wingenbach has scheduled visits to Tinian for Wednesday, October 20 (with Polly Anne); Thursday, October 28; Wednesday, November 3; Wednesday, November 10; and Friday, November 19, 2010. “It’s fantastic that the people of Tinian can now have increased access to justice,” said Wingenbach.


Linda Wingenbach at her desk in Tinian: photo by Janet King.

Clients and applicants can set appointments for Rota or Tinian by calling the Marianas Office in Saipan. Walk-in clients and applicants are also permitted, although people may have to wait if they don’t have an appointment.

Tinian Schedule

Thanks to the federal earmarked funds we received through our US Congressman's efforts, we will be traveling to Tinian and Rota more frequently to provide legal help in these under-served areas.

Our Tinian calendar right now looks like this:

Friday, October 15
Wednesday, October 20 (with Polly Anne)
Thursday, October 28
Wednesday, November 3
Wednesday, November 10
Friday, November 19


Attorney Linda Wingenbach will be there and available to meet new applicants and talk with clients at our new office space at the first floor of the PM Building (about halfway between JC Café and the courthouse). Appointments can be made by calling our Saipan office. People may also walk-in, but may have to wait.

New CNMI Divorce Law--P.L. 17-20

The CNMI has a new divorce law.

CHANGES:
It provides for 3 major changes to our current code.

1. It changes the jurisdictional residency requirement (8 CMC sec. 1332(a)) from two years to 90 days.

2. It changes one of the grounds for divorce (8 CMC sec. 1331 (g))--deleting "leprosy" and replacing it with "irreconcilable differences."

3. It makes dissolution available (8 CMC sec. 1331 (b)) upon 2 conditions: *) 7 days residency of one of the parties and **) signed and notarized consent of both parties. [Note the consent must be acknowledged before a US consular officer if signed outside of the US.]

Effective date: 10/3/2010.

IMPACT:
These changes are welcomed. The previous law's 2-years-residency requirement was a difficult hurdle to meet at times, especially for those who left and returned, or who were relatively new to the island and saw their marriages collapse.

Irreconcilable differences are described as

"persistent and unresolvable disagreements between spouses that result in the breakdown of the marriage."

And more importantly:

"Irreconcilable differences may be cited generally without citation of specific differences as grounds for dissolution of the marriage."

This will be a great help; we will no longer have to show that the other spouse is guilty of cruel treatment. If one party feels the marriage is beyond repair, that should be enough proof of irreconcilable differences!

HEARINGS:
Although the statute is silent on its effect on the need for hearings, the Court might analyze the need for hearings like this:

*As in the past, all divorces based on "grounds" (including irreconcilable differences) require a hearing and proof of the grounds.

*The dissolutions, based on mutual consent, may be obtained without a hearing upon sufficient pleadings.

We will be encouraging this procedure. And it is likely that for those divorces in the pipeline, where disputes about grounds have been raised, we will seek to amend and plead "irreconcilable differences."

A good change, all in all.

Family-based Green Cards Filing Fees Update

MLSC published a blog post on May 22, 2009 regarding family-based green card fees and costs in the CNMI. Fees will increase this November 2010, and so here is an update to the numbers. (You can still file with the lower fees through November 22, 2010.)

GREEN CARD FEES & COSTS
Form		Required with Form	Fee/Cost
I-130	Petition for Alien Relative	• Evidence of relationship (e.g., marriage certificate, joint account information, etc.) • If previously married, evidence of termination of marriage • 1 passport photo • G-325A biographical info	$420
I-485	Adjustment to Permanent Status Application	• G-325A biographical info • Copy of passport • Copy of CNMI immigration permit • Birth certificate • 2 passport photos • Police clearance or, if criminal history, provide evidence • I-693 Medical report • fingerprinting fee	$985 $80
I-864	Affidavit of Support for Immediate Relative	• Most recent tax filing (w/ W2 form)	--
Total USCIS Fees			$1,485
Costs
Medical exam for I-693 report		Estimate only. Prices range based on what tests are needed for the applicant.	$350-$500
Attorney		Estimate only. Fees vary.	$1,000
Total Est. Costs			$1,500
GRANT TOTAL (USCIS FEES & COSTS)			$2,985

Continuing in effect: family-based green card applicants can have their interviews conducted in Saipan at the recently-opened Application Support Center in the TSL Plaza, Beach Road in Garapan.

We hope to get a better sense of what private attorneys are charging when we host an immigration training in December 2010.

Medical exams may depend on your age, and for children whether vaccinations are up-to-date. You can run a search of authorized health care providers on the USCIS website's by searching "Find civil surgeons" and entering the zip code. Here is the current list that is generated when typing 96950 for the CNMI:

•Dr. Ahmad Al-Alou, Pacific Medical Center P.O. Box 501908 CK, Saipan, MP 96950 (670) 233-8100 •Dr. Anthony R. Stearns, Marianas Medical Center, PO Box 5006 CHRB, Saipan, MP 96950(670) 234-3925 •Dr. Christine Brown, Island Medical Center, P.O. Box 504669, Saipan, MP 96950(670) 235-8880 •Dr. Richard Brostrom, Department of Public Health, Commonwealth Health Center, P.O. Box 409 CK, Saipan, MP 96950 (670) 234-8950

Note that although Dr. Brostrom at CHC is still listed, he has left the CNMI.

We hope you find this helpful. As always, please feel free to leave a comment or advise us if any information we provide is inaccurate or out-of-date.

Diversity Lottery

The United Stated Department of State sponsors a "diversity lottery" where it gives away US green cards to certain qualifying aliens in a random lottery process. It will OPEN applications for the 2012 lottery on October 5, 2010 and CLOSE on November 3, 2010.

What is this Diversity Lottery Program?
The program is explained on the State Department's website here. Basically, it is an invitation to aliens from countries that have low immigration rates to come to the US. It helps balance the diversity of foreigners present in the US and enriches the population with this diversity.

Who can apply?
Essentially, the lottery is open only to aliens from countries with relatively low immigration numbers into the US. For example, aliens from the Philippines and those born in mainland China do not qualify. This year's list of countries/citizens excluded from the lottery are BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM.

If you are an alien from any country other than those excluded, you may be eligible to apply on-line for the green-card give-away.

You must also be
1)outside of the United States; or
2)present in the US and have entered lawfully and "been inspected" and be lawfully present; or
3) present in the US despite unlawful entry/no inspection if and only if eligible for 245 (i) protection [--an expired amnesty program: beneficiary of a Form I-130 immigrant visa petition ("Petition for Alien Relative") or Form I-140 immigrant visa petition ("Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker") that was filed with the INS on or before April 30, 2001, or the beneficiary of an application for labor certification filed with the Department of Labor on or before April 30, 2001]

What does it cost?
There is NO FEE!

Are there any other eligibility requirements?
There are other eligibility requirements:.

Education or work status
Alien applicantss must have either 1)a high-school diploma or 2) have recent "qualifying occupation" experience (2 years experience during the past 5 years). You can learn more about qualifying occupations on the State Department's website, but it's not all that simple. You have to look at both the "job zone" and the "specific vocational preference" and meet both levels of qualifying occupation requirements to take advantage of this alternative.

One and only one successful application
Alien applicants must list all family members and submit individual photos of each family member, even if the family member is a US citizen or permanent resident already.

You may submit only one completed application. A second application that is also proper in all regards would disqualify the applicant-both the first and subsequent applications would be withdrawn.

And post selection criteria
Even if you win, you may have to meet additional requirements (good character, etc.). Also, the State Department notifies more than 50,000 people to "apply" for the final phase because some don't make it through this process--so you could be notified that you are in the final selected group and still not win if the 50,000 green cards are issued before your number is up.

How do you apply?
The applicant must be submitted through an on-line process. This means the photos must be scanned to certain specifications, and all questions answered, etc. You can see the instructions online here.

What are the chances of winning?
According to "About.com" the chances are about 1% that you'll get the notice and once you have that, 50% that you'll actually get a green card. In other words--very slim (about .5%)

How do you find out if you're a winner?
There is an on-line status checker. Notices will begin in May 2011. The actual green cards will be available starting in October 2011 through September 2012.

MLSC's Back To School Project

We held our annual Back-To-School Project this August and September 2010. This is a direct pass-through project where we collect money and school supplies from donors, primarily in the CNMI Bar Association, and then distribute everything in the form of school supplies to students in grades 1 through 12.

The good news for SY 2010-11 is that we collected $1190 in cash donations and approximately $915 in in-kind donations. (I say approximately because we estimate the value of the donations and don't have exact value for all items contributed.)

We distributed 77 book bags with supplies--binder, filler paper, folder, notebook, pencil case with pens, pencils, erasers and pencil sharpeners--and then depending on the grade, some additional components: the elementary add-ons (construction paper, glue, scissors, crayons, fancy pencils); the middle school add-ons (graph paper, compass, protracter, art eraser, scotch tape or index cards); the high school complement (white paper, art eraser, highlighter, white-out tape or fluid).

We also distributed all in-kind donations, so each book-bag recipient received a unique donation.

In addition to the 77 book bags with supplies, we gave out 24 small kits--containing 2 notebooks, a pack of 10 pencils and a box of crayons each. These kits were all identical (except for the colors of the notebooks) and were made possible by an in-kind donation after school started that helped us reach students on our list when we had run out of money and other supplies.

We were not very successful in reaching out to Tinian and Rota--distributing only 11 book bags with supplies to these islands' students, despite our efforts. We are happy that we did get something to each island, however.

We received less in overall cash and supplies this year than in 2009, perhaps reflecting the economic realities here; but interestingly enough, these donations came from more people than who donated in 2009--so generally the donations were smaller, but more people were reaching into their pockets to help our students.

And we really appreciate it.

There were many happy smiles on the recipients faces; and honesty, too. One recipient kept the school supplies that were needed for her children but said someone else had donated book bags to her, so she gave back the new ones we were going to give her back and then we gave them to two other kids who were not otherwise going to get backpacks this year.

All in all, this was another successful event. Thanks to everyone who helped.

Community Education--House Legislative Initiative 17-1

On the November ballot, voters in the CNMI will be asked to consider three proposed amendments to the CNMI Constitution. Here is information on one of them: House Legislative Initiative 17-1.

This legislative initiative amends Article X of the CNMI Constitution by adding a new section (10). The new provision authorizes the Commonwealth to issue pension obligation bonds (POBs), not to exceed “the Commonwealth’s actuarially determined unfunded accrued liability to the Retirement Fund.” The proceeds of the bonds are deposited into the NMIRF’s “defined benefit plan” trust fund and invested with other monies by the NMIRF. The bonds may be issued only upon 2/3rds approval of each House of the Legislature, in compliance with Article X, section (3). The debt incurred by issuing the bonds may exceed 10% of the aggregate assessed valuation of the real property in the CNMI and may be authorized for operating expenses, as part of the exception from compliance with Article X, section (4).


PROS: 1. Generally, the provision would allow the CNMI government to borrow money to pay the NMIRF. Putting money into the NMIRF would help make sure that the CNMI retirees in the Defined Benefits Plan receive future benefits when due.
Stated another way, the provision would provide authority to the CNMI government that it currently does not have, giving it the flexibility to use pension obligation bonds (POBs) to address the existing NMIRF unfunded liability. POBs are essentially a loan the CNMI would secure and would provide a large amount of money to the NMIRF now to cover part or all of the unfunded liability, thus making sure retirees are paid as their benefits are due.
2. Other jurisdictions have used POBs for their unfunded accrued liability.
3. If the debt (POBs) can be obtained at less than 9% interest per year, the CNMI may realize savings by paying the bond obligation at a cheaper rate than if it paid on the NMIRF judgment, which accrues interest at 9% per annum.
4. If the debt (POBs) can be paid over a longer period of time (typically 30 years), then the CNMI may have a lower monthly payment installment, alleviating some of the financial pressure on the CNMI.


CONS: 1. The CNMI cannot get out of debt by borrowing money. It will either be obligated to the NMIRF or to the POBs investors.
2. POB investors will not be as lenient as the NMIRF in collecting on the obligation. The CNMI could be pushed to bankruptcy.
3. The POB debt created will be owed by future generations of the CNMI, even though the benefit is only to those retirees currently in the Defined Benefit Plan. No more government workers may join the Defined Benefit Plan (DBP).
4. The causes of the unfunded accrued liability are numerous and include excessive benefits to retirees, lawful (and unlawful) double-dipping, non-payment by the CNMI government and questionable investment decisions by the NMIRF. These problems will continue if “easy” money is made available through POBs; the only way to force an end to the causes of the NMIRF’s financial problems is to require that the causes be fixed first.
5. The only limit on the amount of the debt that the CNMI might incur through the POBs is the amount of the “unfunded accrued liability” owed by the CNMI to the NMIRF. If the CNMI government fails to make normal contributions in the future (as it has in the past), that liability can increase. Other events could negatively impact the unfunded accrued liability. The CNMI government could then incur more POB debt. Even recognizing that the CNMI government’s normal contributions will decrease as the size of the DBP participants declines, the potential for debt through issuing POBs on future generations that will not benefit is staggering.
6. The proposed constitutional amended misuses commonly understood financial terms which creates confusion and undercuts the benefit to the NMIRF. Unfunded accrued liability should refer to the NMIRF’s obligation to its retirees for which is does not have funds on hand and for which the retirees have a contractual right to receive. It should not be used to refer to the CNMI government’s unpaid normal contributions to the NMIRF. By misusing the terms in the constitutional provision and referring to unfunded accrued liability of the CNMI to the NMIRF, the proposed Constitutional provision creates an ambiguity as to whether unfunded accrued liability that is due to other purposes (such as non-payment by autonomous agencies or a payment scheme that is inadequate) can be the basis for POBs. For example, the CNMI government’s current unfunded accrued liability to the NMIRF is about $282 million. The NMIRF’s unfunded accrued liability to retirees is about $400 million. As this constitutional provision is written, even if the CNMI obtains POBs to the limit of its obligation of $282 million, the NMIRF will still have unfunded accrued liabilities in excess of $100 million.
7. The proposed constitutional amendment carves out an exception for POBs from the general limit on public debt. Making this exception for the NMIRF to the well-structured Article X limit on public debt opens a “Pandora’s Box” and may encourage reliance on borrowing as a means of addressing financial problems by the government for other perceived financial crises. Increasing revenues and limiting spending are safer and more reliable methods of addressing financial issues.

SUMMARY: Proponents of the provision view this as essential to the health of the NMIRF; opponents view it as extremely detrimental to the health of the CNMI and a large step in the wrong direction.