Northern Mariana Islands Workforce Improvement Act

Kimberlyn King-Hinds

Republican · MP · Representative

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

No cosponsors on record. Bills can pass without cosponsors — this often means the sponsor introduced the bill alone, either because it's a messaging bill, a chairman's mark, or simply early in the legislative cycle.

Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

2026-05-20

Source: Congress.gov

This bill would remove a requirement that certain workers from Commonwealth territories (like Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam) must leave the United States and return to their home territory before being allowed to work in the country. The change would make it easier for these workers to obtain employment authorization without having to go through the process of leaving and re-entering the U.S.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8931 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8931 To eliminate the touchback requirement for certain Commonwealth Only Workers, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 20, 2026 Ms. King-Hinds introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To eliminate the touchback requirement for certain Commonwealth Only Workers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Northern Mariana Islands Workforce Improvement Act''. SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF TOUCHBACK REQUIREMENT. (a) In General.--Section 6(d)(7) of Public Law 94-241 (48 U.S.C. 1806(d)(7)) is amended to read as follows: ``(7) Permit validity; long-term workers.-- ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a permit for a Commonwealth Only Worker shall be valid for a period not to exceed 1 year. ``(B) Renewals.--A permit issued under subparagraph (A) may be renewed for additional periods of not more than 1 year each, subject to the requirements of this subsection. ``(C) Long-term workers.--An alien who was admitted to the Commonwealth as a Commonwealth Only Transitional Worker-- ``(i) during fiscal year 2015; and ``(ii) during two of fiscal years 2016, 2017, 2018, or 2019, may be admitted as a Commonwealth Only Transitional Worker for a period that may not exceed 3 years and may be renewed for additional 3-year periods during the transition period. A permit issued pursuant to this subparagraph shall be counted toward the numerical cap for each fiscal year for which the permit is valid.''. (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take effect as if included in the enactment of Public Law 115-218. <all>

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