US suspends visa-free visits by Chinese nationals to the Northern Marianas, citing spying risk near bases

The US Department of Homeland Security is suspending a programme that let prescreened Chinese nationals visit the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands without a visa, saying the scheme could be exploited for espionage against American military infrastructure in the western Pacific. The decision was set out in a Federal Register notice scheduled for publication on 27 October and signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, according to the notice and the Indian news agency IANS.

The suspension takes effect at 2pm US Eastern time on 30 October, three days after publication, which falls early on 31 October in the islands. It covers new applications and travel authorisations that have already been approved. Chinese visitors who are already in the territory under the programme may stay until their permitted period ends, but anyone travelling later will need a regular US visa, the notice says.

US Customs and Border Protection had already told airlines in a notice dated 26 October that the programme would be suspended from 30 October and that existing authorisations would be cancelled, the Saipan-based NMI News Service reported. It said the carrier notice warned airlines they could face penalties for flying passengers without proper documents, and gave no reason for the change.

Military sites at the centre of the case

In its reasoning, the department describes Guam and the Northern Marianas as being of vital strategic importance to the United States. It notes that the Pentagon is restoring the Tinian Air Base to support US military interests in the Indo-Pacific, and that neighbouring Guam hosts several military installations it calls critical to homeland defence. The notice says one significant national security concern is that the visa-free route could be used for Chinese espionage and intelligence collection aimed at sensitive defence infrastructure in the region.

Chinese visitors under the programme were barred from travelling beyond the Northern Marianas, but the department says some have been able to reach Guam illegally by boat. It cites two federal sentencings of Chinese smugglers, announced in March 2024 and February 2025, who moved nine and seven other Chinese nationals from the islands to Guam. Most of the people smuggled were later found in or near sensitive military installations, according to the notice. Those cases came under an earlier parole arrangement and other streamlined routes, which the department says show a lasting weakness that the newer programme did not remove.

The department also argues that the programme could lower barriers to birth tourism, which it says may in turn be used to support long-term intelligence activity, and it points to past Chinese-linked criminal activity in the territory, including money laundering and labour abuses tied to a casino operation on Saipan. The notice does not give a figure for births linked to the programme.

How the scheme worked

The programme took effect on 20 February 2025, replacing a parole policy for Chinese visitors, and allowed stays of up to 14 days. Applicants were vetted by Customs and Border Protection rather than by State Department consular officers. More than 3,000 Chinese nationals used it to enter the Northern Marianas in fiscal year 2025, the notice says, a volume the department now judges an unacceptable security risk. It says Chinese nationals are almost certainly exploiting the scheme.

The department acknowledges that local businesses that rely on Chinese tourists, and travellers from China, may lose money, but says the risks to national security outweigh those interests. It adds that genuine visitors can still apply for an ordinary visa and that the suspension does not bring back the old parole policy. The programme will be reviewed in consultation with the State and Interior departments, and no date has been given for any reinstatement, RNZ reported.