Can American Samoans travel abroad? If yes, what passport do they use?

7 comments

1. Google says they would be issued an American passport with an indication that they are American nationals, not American citizens.

2. They have a weird status. They aren’t citizens they are American nationals. So they use American passports and as far as I know all the benefits of a US passport but the passport says they are nationals and not citizens.

3. I believe they can apply to be citizens after a short period of living in the mainland. They also can travel to the mainland freely and work.

4. Im so tired I thought you said “samosas” lmao

5. American Samoans are U.S. nationals. They get the same passports that U.S. citizens get except that their passport states “The bearer is a United States national and not a United States citizen.” In terms of travelling abroad, U.S. nationals have the same visa requirements as U.S. citizens and are entitled to consular assistance from U.S. diplomatic missions abroad just like citizens. U.S. nationals can live, work, and study freely anywhere in the U.S. for an unlimited amount of time and cannot be denied entry or deported from the U.S. for any reason. They can even serve in the U.S. military (and American Samoans do so at a rate higher than any other state or territory). Nationals cannot vote in federal elections (e.g. presidential elections) even if they live in 1 of the 50 states or Washington D.C. and are ineligible to serve as jurors.

   U.S. nationals are basically U.S. citizens with some insignificant restrictions that apply when living in the U.S.

   EDIT: U.S. nationals are ineligible for jobs that require a security clearance (requires U.S. citizenship) or U.S. citizenship for some reason, but most jobs don’t have those restrictions.

6. I would imagine it’s a similar set up to us. Just in case anyone was interested (you’re probably not) we Brits have a similar thing with chat used to be called the colonies. It can get messy, for example my friend is British but can’t pass her citizenship to her children.

   There’s various status’ of being British.
   British citizen, British subject, British overseas territories citizen, British overseas citizen, British national overseas and British protected person.

   All have various rules about whether you can live and work in the UK proper or whether you can bring your family over and what recourse to public funds you can have. (like access to healthcare)

7. Samoa is not an open air prison, of course they can travel should they choose to do so. WTF.