Following the announcement (Oct 2) of the US Department of Homeland and Security’s creation of a program allowing family members of Filipino and Fil-Am WWII Veterans to receive parole to enter the US, Senator Dennis Rodriguez, Jr. thought is it timely to once again revisit the idea of Guam only visa waiver for Philippines and Vietnam.
“Both these countries are geographically located in close proximity to Guam and have emerged as a powerful economic powerhouse that could provide positive economic and business growth to our island,” Rodriguez said in a release.
To support his proposition, Rodriguez, a Filipino decent, wrote Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo seeking her insights whether “this could finally become a program that would be entertained that would be entertained by the Federal Government at this time.”
In her response, Bordallo said “Public Law 110-229, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 expanded the Guam visa waiver program and provided the Governor with the authority to petition DHS to include additional countries under our visa waiver program.”
Thus, on October 19, Rodriguez Governor Eddie Baza Calvo seeking his support and action. Rodriguez said, “There were various factors that the US Department of Homeland Security considered in order to determine which countries would be included into the visa waiver program. Among the factors considered in the CNRA is the significant economic benefit a country provides to Guam or the CNMI.
At the time of DHS’s rulemaking process, Philippines and Vietnam “exhibited high rates of refusal for nonimmigrant visitor’s visas as well as an unfavorable potential economic impact to either Guam or CNMI,” Rodriguez’s letter reads.
But things have changed, claims Rodriguez, stating the Philippines and Vietnam “are now regarded as fast rising economies in the global GDP rankings. In addition, the refusal rates for nonimmigrant visitors from Vietnam have seen a drastic decrease over the years.” As for the Philippines, refusal rate remains high, but Rodriguez said “there are positive factors Guam could raise with DHS in a effort to seek inclusion into the visa waiver program. Some of these factors include the potential for future economic and business growth for Guam, the strengthened bilateral relationship, and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement President Obama signed with the Philippines last year.”
As of press time the office of Senator Rodriguez and this paper is yet to receive a comment or response from Adelup as the matter.
Currently, 12 countries are under the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program as follows: Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and United Kingdom. China’s VWP is only applicable with CNMI.
It is to be noted that thousands of Filipinos are applying for a non-immigrant visa on a daily basis at the US Embassy in Manila but only a fraction gets approved. This is despite the hefty application fee of a minimum of $160.00.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez is concerned that the DHS’s Oct 2 announcement of the parole program “clearly warns the public that application process to this program has not yet commenced, and cautions that any applications received before the programs implementation may be denied.” Bordallo replied that she is already in contact with the DHS “to learn more about the program and how the Department will implement and carry it out.”/The Junction News Team
