The Department of Homeland Security is suspending a visa-free travel program that allowed prescreened Chinese nationals to visit the Northern Mariana Islands without a U.S. visa, citing birth tourism, espionage risks near American military installations, and illegal onward travel to Guam. The suspension takes effect at 2 p.m. EDT on October 30, 2026, according to a federal notice signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
What Was Suspended
The program at issue is the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program, known as EVS-TAP. Created under a 2024 rule and operational from February 2025, it allowed nationals of the People's Republic of China who passed prescreening to visit the U.S. territory for up to 14 days without obtaining a visa through an American consulate.
Instead of consular vetting by the State Department, travelers under the program were screened by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 3,000 Chinese nationals used EVS-TAP to enter the Northern Mariana Islands in fiscal year 2025.
The suspension applies both to new applicants and to travelers who already hold an EVS-TAP authorization. Chinese nationals already in the territory under the program may finish their authorized stays, but they will need a visa for any future visit unless another lawful exception applies. The suspension will remain in place while the department evaluates the program in consultation with the secretaries of state and the interior.
Why DHS Says It Acted
In its Federal Register notice, the department said it had determined there was good cause to suspend the program, pointing to threats to national security, law enforcement interests, and immigration enforcement. The notice states that DHS judges Chinese nationals are "almost certainly exploiting" the program and that the volume of visa-exempt entries presents "unacceptable security and law enforcement risks."
Birth tourism is the first concern listed. That term describes travel undertaken primarily to give birth on American soil so that the child acquires U.S. citizenship. The department said the availability of visa-exempt travel and reduced vetting under EVS-TAP "may lower barriers to this practice," and warned that birth tourism can strain the islands' medical system. Notably, the notice did not provide a number of births linked to travelers who entered through the program.
The second concern is espionage. DHS said the program "may be exploited to facilitate PRC espionage and intelligence collection directed against sensitive U.S. defense infrastructure in the region." The notice pointed to the restoration of Tinian Air Base in the Northern Mariana Islands and to neighboring Guam, which hosts several military installations the department described as critical to homeland defense.
The third concern is illegal onward travel. Although EVS-TAP did not permit visitors to travel to Guam or the U.S. mainland, DHS cited cases in which Chinese nationals were smuggled by boat from the Northern Mariana Islands to Guam. The notice referenced two federal sentencings, in March 2024 and February 2025, involving Chinese nationals who smuggled nine and seven other Chinese nationals respectively from the territory to Guam. According to reports on the notice, it also raised money laundering and labor abuses linked to some Chinese-run businesses on the islands.
Months of Republican Pressure
The decision follows months of pressure from Republican lawmakers. According to reports, Senators Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, John Cornyn of Texas, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana wrote to Mullin in April urging him to end the program, warning that it encouraged birth tourism and posed national security risks.
Representative Chip Roy of Texas and Representative Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin had also raised concerns about the program in March, according to Roy's office. After the suspension was announced, Lee celebrated the move in a post on X, writing: "America is not a nursery for the CCP to steal citizenship." He added: "Thank you, President Trump!"
Roy's office likewise welcomed the decision, saying the Texas Republican was "pleased to hear the Trump Admin closed this dangerous loophole." The program's defenders had pitched it as a way to support the tourism-dependent economy of the islands, but DHS argued in its notice that the economic benefits did not outweigh the risks.
China, notably, had already been excluded from the broader Guam-CNMI visa waiver program since 2009 on political and security grounds, according to reports. EVS-TAP was a narrower, separate arrangement created specifically for the Northern Mariana Islands.
What This Means
The suspension does not bar Chinese nationals from visiting the Northern Mariana Islands altogether. What changes is the route in: instead of a travel authorization with Customs and Border Protection screening, visitors will need a regular U.S. visa issued through the consular process, with its fuller vetting and interviews.
That distinction is the heart of the department's case. DHS is arguing that consular vetting, conducted by State Department officers abroad, is a stronger filter than the authorization system it is pausing. Critics of the program have long made the same argument, saying a 14-day visa-free window into American territory, close to major military facilities, invited abuse even if most travelers used it lawfully.
The move also fits a wider Trump administration crackdown on birth tourism, according to reports, which has included State Department visa revocations and a dedicated task force review. The Northern Mariana Islands decision extends that campaign from consulates and visa policy into a territorial travel program that few Americans had ever heard of, but that sat at the intersection of immigration enforcement and Pacific security.
For the islands themselves, the stakes are economic as well as legal. Tourism is a lifeline for Saipan and its neighboring islands, and Chinese visitors were a source of arrivals under the program. Local businesses that benefited from those visits will now watch whether visa applicants keep coming through the regular consular channel, or whether the added hurdle shrinks the flow.
What Happens Next
The immediate deadline is October 30 at 2 p.m. EDT, when the suspension takes effect. Travelers with existing authorizations should expect them to stop working after that point, and anyone planning a trip will need to apply for a visa instead.
The longer question is whether the suspension becomes permanent. DHS has framed the pause as temporary, lasting while it evaluates the program with the State and Interior departments. That review could end with EVS-TAP restored, reformed with tighter vetting, or scrapped entirely. No timeline for the review has been announced, according to reports.
Congressional supporters of the suspension are likely to press for a permanent end, while the territory's tourism industry and its congressional delegate may argue for a revised version that preserves visitor flows with stronger safeguards. For now, though, the message from Washington is clear: the visa-free door to the Northern Mariana Islands for Chinese nationals is closing, at least for the time being, and the burden of proof has shifted to those who would reopen it.
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