Peter Eche v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Lawful permanent residents of the United States (LPRs) who apply for naturalization as United States citizens must show, inter alia, that they have resided in the United States continuously for five years. See 8 U.S.C. § 1427 (a)(1); 8 C.F.R. § 316.2 (a)(3)-(4). Each of the two Plaintiffs-Appellants in this case had resided for several years in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a territory of the United States, when federal immigration law replaced CNMI immigration law there in 2009: The issue we must decide in this appeal is whether the time plaintiffs resided in the CNMI before the 2009 transition date counts toward the five-year residence requirement for naturalization. The district court held in a published decision that the time does not count. Eche v. Holder.; 742 F.Supp.2d 1136, 1141-45 (D.N.M.I.2011). That is the correct answer under the clear language of the controlling statute, and we affirm.

STATUTORY BACKGROUND

When Congress in 1976 approved the. Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States (Covenant), citizens of the CNMI became citizens of the United States. See…