CW-1 CNMI-Only Transitional Worker: Touchback and 2029 Cap

The CW-1 CNMI transitional worker visa is a work classification available only in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, letting CNMI employers hire foreign workers who don’t qualify for any other U.S. nonimmigrant work category. It runs on a declining annual cap — 8,000 workers in fiscal year 2026, dropping each year — and is scheduled to end on December 31, 2029.¹

Who Qualifies as a CW-1 Worker

The defining rule is a negative one: a CW-1 worker must be someone who is ineligible for any other nonimmigrant worker classification under federal immigration law. The category exists for people who don’t fit into H-1B, H-2B, or the other standard work visa slots.² The worker also has to be admissible to the United States, and if they’re already in the CNMI, they must be in lawful status.

Two limits catch people off guard. First, CW-1 status only authorizes work in the CNMI — it cannot be used to take a job anywhere else in the United States. Second, CW-1 workers generally cannot fill construction and extraction jobs (Standard Occupational Classification Group 47-0000). The only exception is for long-term workers, defined as those who held CW-1 status during fiscal year 2015 and each of fiscal years 2016 through 2018.³

Who Can Petition as an Employer

Only a CNMI employer running a real, lawful business can bring a CW-1 worker in. Federal regulations require the employer to be engaged in legitimate business, to obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department of Labor, to offer employment terms consistent with the occupation and the CNMI economy, and to comply with all federal and CNMI employment laws covering nondiscrimination, occupational safety, and minimum wages.³ A history of labor violations or debarment from other immigration programs will sink a petition.

The obligations continue after the visa is approved. If the employer involuntarily dismisses a CW-1 worker before the authorized period ends, the employer must pay reasonable transportation costs out of the CNMI. Employers also have to file semiannual reports (see below), and skipping them can trigger revocation of the approved petition.²

The Labor Department Steps That Come First

Before filing anything with USCIS, the employer has to clear two Department of Labor steps in order. The first is a prevailing wage determination, requested from the National Prevailing Wage Center through the DOL’s FLAG System. It sets the minimum wage the employer must offer for the specific occupation and location.⁴

The second is the temporary labor certification itself, filed on Form ETA-9142C with the DOL’s National Processing Center and accompanied by the prevailing wage determination or its tracking number. The certification confirms two things: there aren’t enough qualified U.S. workers in the CNMI to fill the job, and hiring a foreign worker won’t hurt the wages or conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.⁵ Without an approved labor certification, USCIS will not accept the petition.

Filing Form I-129CW

With the labor certification in hand, the employer files Form I-129CW, Petition for a CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker. The petition must include the job title, the Standard Occupational Classification code, a description of the current workforce, and evidence the business is legitimate — tax returns, business licenses, commercial lease agreements, and the like. Foreign credentials must be translated into English.⁶

If a worker will work for more than one employer, each employer files its own petition with its own fees.³ Three separate payments accompany every filing:⁷

Base filing fee of $1,015, reduced to $510 for small employers and nonprofits.
Fraud prevention and detection fee of $50 per petition, which cannot be waived.
CNMI education fee of $210 per worker for each year of requested status, which also cannot be waived. Three years of validity means $630 per worker in education fees alone.

Payments must be by check or money order drawn on a U.S. financial institution. If the worker is outside the CNMI when the petition is approved, the employer should request consular processing, and the worker then applies for the CW-1 visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate. The worker must apply for admission to the CNMI within 10 days of the petition’s validity start date, or USCIS can revoke the approval.²

How Long the Visa Lasts and the Touchback Rule

A standard CW-1 petition is valid for up to one year and may be extended for a total of three consecutive years. After the third consecutive petition validity period, the worker must leave the United States, including the CNMI, and stay outside for at least 30 continuous days before a new petition can be filed on their behalf. This is the touchback requirement.⁸

Changing employers does not reset the count. If a worker is already on their third petition, a new employer still has to wait until the 30-day departure is complete. Once the worker satisfies the touchback, the clock resets and they become eligible for two more extensions before the departure kicks in again. Because the worker will be abroad without a valid CW-1 visa, the new employer has to request consular processing when filing the next petition.⁸

Long-term workers are exempt from the touchback. They can receive petition validity periods of up to three years and are not subject to the mandatory departure.²

Losing or Changing a Job

Losing a job doesn’t automatically end CW-1 status, but the window to fix it is short. A worker whose employment ends has 30 days to line up a new employer who files a fresh I-129CW petition. Work with the new employer can start as soon as that petition is filed. If no petition is filed within 30 days, the worker is treated as out of status retroactive to the termination date and must leave the CNMI.²

A petition filed after the 30-day grace period won’t restore status. The worker would need to leave, wait for approval, get a CW visa at a consulate, and re-enter the CNMI to start working.

Family Members on CW-2

Spouses and unmarried children under 18 can accompany or follow a CW-1 worker to the CNMI in CW-2 status. They must be admissible and, if already in the CNMI, must be in lawful status.⁹ CW-2 does not authorize work. Family members may attend school and can separately apply for a visa classification that does allow employment.

The Semiannual Report Employers Have to Keep Filing

Every employer with an approved CW-1 petition must file Form I-129CWR every six months, confirming each sponsored worker is still employed and paid according to the petition’s terms. The report is due in a window running from 30 days before to 30 days after each six-month mark from the petition validity start date. Petitions with a validity period under six months are exempt.¹⁰

Enforcement here has teeth. USCIS can revoke an approved petition if the employer fails to file, and it will deny future petitions until every overdue report is submitted. Coming into compliance later does not undo a revocation that has already happened; it only reopens the door for new filings.²

The Shrinking Cap and the 2029 End Date

Congress built a declining cap into federal regulations. Each fiscal year runs October 1 through September 30, and the numbers get smaller every year:¹

FY 2025: 9,000
FY 2026: 8,000
FY 2027: 7,000
FY 2028: 6,000
FY 2029: 5,000

Once USCIS receives enough petitions to hit the cap, it rejects further filings for the rest of that fiscal year. The whole program ends on December 31, 2029, under the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018. After that date, no new CW-1 petitions can be filed and no new CW-1 status can be granted.¹

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The CNMI-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) Cap
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. CW-1: CNMI-Only Transitional Worker
3
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.2
4
U.S. Department of Labor. CW-1 Prevailing Wage Determination and Temporary Labor Certification
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 12-21
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-129CW, Petition for a CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Questions and Answers from NMISHRM
9
U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 402.18 – Nonimmigrant Visas Specifically for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands – CW and E-2C Visas
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-129CWR, Semiannual Report for CW-1 Employers