Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Entry permit - again! Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / American Samoa
foretagarna 10:41 UTC 30 May 2014 | Hi again, I have, of course, checked the list and Sweden is for sure one of the listed countries. Just to be even more sure I have put this question to the relevant authorities in American Samoa, and the say that I DO NEED the permit. I have applied for the permit at the Attorney General´s office, but - they do not answer since two months. Having booked the flight and accomodation, it´s getting late... My question here: Has anybody on this forum made the trip to American Samoa? If so. With or without an entry permit? Your answer is most welcome! |
wksamoa 07:50 UTC 01 Jun 2014 | With a Swedish passport, six month valid, and an onward/return ticket you will get your 30 day permit upon arrival. You will already see that when booking your flight. The airline would get fined and has to take you back when your entry is not certain - when they sell you a ticket (and they will) they know very well what they are doing. Best pre-screen. However when you ask the AG office before you will always get told to apply as that keeps them on the safe side. Officially everybody needs the permit - the waiver is less binding (you cannot sue them if they do not let you in). I travelled with a German passport many times and never had a problem. And what's the worst case scenario? They reject you and you go back to Apia. Extremely unlikely to happen and nothing to be afraid of. So just go and don't worry. | 1
foretagarna 17:18 UTC 08 Jun 2014 | Thanks very much for advice!! | 2
frisbee 00:11 UTC 09 Jun 2014 | I'm an UK passport holder and am presently in Fiji. Due to the fact that I've wanted to take the ferry from Samoa to American Samoa, I've had to make many trips to Fiji Airway's office and try and sort this nonsense out. On Samoa Shipping's website, it's not possible to pay for a ferry ticket to Pago Pago ahead of time. From the perspective of Fiji Airways, that means that I'd be flying from Fiji to Samoa WITHOUT a PAID onward ticket to American Samoa. That's not something that Fiji Airways wants, and I've found it necessary to spend much time trying to sort out my situation before I actually board that flight to Samoa. During the past week, I've received an e-mail from a bloke at Samoa Shipping advising me that he's made a reservation for me and that I'll have to pay when I get there. The Fiji Airways bloke then added that information to my "pnr" (whatever that is). One thing I now realise is that there's no such thing as an EU passport, as different passport holders from different EU countries have different regulations. I was told by the bloke at Fiji Airways office in Apia that the only 5 countries that can enter American Samoa without an entry permit obtained in advance, are passport holders from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA. If that's true, that means that of all the 28 EU countries, it's only UK passport holders that can enter American Samoa without an entry permit obtained in advance. But, wksamoa tells us that he /she has a German passport and gets a 30 day entry permit upon arrival. So, go figure !!! LOL. If you want, here's the e-mail address of the Fiji Airways bloke whom I've been recently e-mailing, christopher.dalton@fijiairways.com I hope the above helps, ad I hope I haven't confused you even more. | 3
frisbee 00:24 UTC 09 Jun 2014 | I don't know if this link is still correct or not. http://www.americansamoa.travel/travel--transportation | 4
foretagarna 11:54 UTC 14 Jun 2014 | Hi, I have had a contact with a lady in the General Attorney´s since february... Nothing then happens. Why they make such a fuss over this entry pemit, I do not know. Anyway - I will do as the german friend says, go to the airport in Apia and later land at Pago... Thank for help! | 5
frisbee 19:02 UTC 24 Jul 2014 | Me again. The following might assist some of you. I am looking at a photocopy of a letter from Mr. Frederick J. O'Brien, who when he wrote the letter, declared himself as the Acting Attorney General of American Samoa. That is the same office that actually makes the rules as regards entry to American Samoa. Quite why a colony/territory like American Samoa makes the fuss that it does over entry permits is beyond me. Anyway, I digress, to continue: That letter indicates that there are 30 countries whose passport holders can American Samoa with nothing arranged in advance, and obtain a free 30 day visa/entry permit/whatever it's called upon arrival. I have uploaded that letter to a FlickR account, so you can see for yourself. The link is: https://www.flickr.com/photos/prm4321/14755266603/ You'll also see that that letter was written in March, 2007. However, when I arrived at passport control in American Samoa, I showed that letter to the immigration agent, and she told me that the contents of that letter are still correct. I also went to the Attorney General's office in an effort to establish why so many of you have tried to phone that office, and nobody ever answers I found what I was told is the actual telephone that is supposed to ring. I asked someone there to use another phone to attempt to ring that phone, and sure enough, it does work. I was told that the office rarely has anyone working in it, due to the normal so-called staff shortages, and people not turning up for work, etc etc. When I asked them if anyone ever considered the possible damage to American Samoa's tourist economy, the staff just had that look of "what do I care? It's not my job". Just to confirm: even though it's called American Samoa, it has its own separate immigration formalities. It is not the same as entering the USA itself (and possibly Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands). Therefore, you don't need an ESTA or normal USA visa to enter American Samoa. Flights from American Samoa to Hawaii are considered international flights, even though they're both American colonies/territories/states/whatever-fancy-word-you-want-to-use. | 6