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Emergency Entry Authorization

American SamoaShort stays and visits

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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Explore pathways in American Samoa Read the five questions ↓

For the relevant traveller scope, is a visa, electronic authorisation, visa on arrival or no advance visa normally required?

The American Samoa immigration rules provide for an "Authorization to enter American Samoa granted to an alien due to an emergency to permit entry without proper travel documents or other non-compliance with entry requirements", carried at $50.00 in the entry-permit fee schedule of ASAC 41.1007(c)(9) (section last amended by Rule 2023-0005, eff 10 Apr 2023; item (9) added by the 2010 amendment). The official source does not name the officer who grants this authorisation.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The source never uses the phrase "emergency entry authorization" as a named permit; the item exists only as a line in the fee schedule. The issuing officer, the application form and any definition of "emergency" are absent from the 2024 edition of Title 41.
  • ASAC 41.1007(c)(9)
    (9) Authorization to enter American Samoa granted to an alien due to an emergency to permit entry without proper travel documents or other non-compliance with entry requirements - $50.00.
  • ASAC 41.1007(c) (chapeau)
    (c) The following fees shall be charged for an entry permit and other authorization or service to facilitate entry in to American Samoa:
  • ASAC 41.1007(d)
    (d) Upon satisfactory showing of compliance with the requirements of subsections (a), (b) and (c)(1) to (c)(5) of this section, the Attorney General or his designee, or the chief immigration officer may grant up to 30 days to visit American Samoa. A visitor granted a 30-day permit may apply for only one extension of 30 days; upon expiration of the extension, the visitor shall depart American Samoa immediately. The chief immigration officer shall report monthly the number of permits granted and receipt of fees. History: Rule 3-86, eff 7 Dec 86; amd 2003, eff 1 Apr 2003; amd 2010, eff 3 May 2010; amd Rule 2023 -0005, eff Apr 10, 2023.
  • ASAC 41.1007 (History note)
    History: Rule 3-86, eff 7 Dec 86; amd 2003, eff 1 Apr 2003; amd 2010, eff 3 May 2010; amd Rule 2023 -0005, eff Apr 10, 2023.

What short-visit purposes does this route cover?

The checked official sources did not provide enough route-specific evidence to confirm the visit purposes this route covers.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The permitted and prohibited activity lists at ASAC 41.1103 and 41.1104 are written expressly for the Entry Permit Waiver Program, a separate regime, and the source does not extend them to this authorization.

What maximum stay, rolling-period rule, validity and entry rules apply?

The checked official sources did not provide enough route-specific evidence to confirm the maximum stay, validity and entry rules.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • Whether any period is fixed administratively for an emergency entry, and whether the holder must regularise status afterwards, are not addressed in the source.

What important funds, accommodation, invitation, insurance, onward-travel or passport evidence may be required?

This authorisation is granted "to permit entry without proper travel documents or other non-compliance with entry requirements", so the ordinary documentary requirements are what is being dispensed with; the official source does not say what, if anything, must be produced instead. Under the general rule at ASAC 41.0511, application to enter is made in person to an immigration officer at a port of entry, and every alien seeking entry must present whatever documents are required and establish to the officer's satisfaction that he or she is not subject to exclusion.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The source does not list what evidence substitutes for the missing travel documents, who assesses it, or whether ASAC 41.0511(d)(1) is applied or relaxed in an emergency case. The document list at ASAC 41.1007(a) (sponsor application, valid travel documents, round-trip ticket or onward passage, passport not expiring during the visit, court and medical clearances) is written for the thirty-day entry permit, not for this authorization.
  • ASAC 41.1007(c)(9)
    (9) Authorization to enter American Samoa granted to an alien due to an emergency to permit entry without proper travel documents or other non-compliance with entry requirements - $50.00.
  • ASAC 41.0511(a)
    (a) General. Application to enter American Samoa shall be made in person to an immigration officer at a port of entry at a time when an immigration officer at the port is open for inspection.
  • ASAC 41.0511(d) and (d)(1)
    (d) Qualifications for Aliens. The following general qualifications and requirements shall be met by each alien seeking to enter American Samoa for permanent, indefinite, or temporary stay, and regardless of the purpose for which he/she seeks to enter: (1) He/she shall present whatever documents are required and shall establish to the satisfaction of the immigration officer that he/she is not subject to exclusion under the Act and is entitled under all of the applicable provisions of the immigration laws and this title to enter American Samoa.

Where/how is permission obtained when required, and under what important circumstances can a stay be extended or changed?

The only procedural element the source fixes for this authorisation is the fee: $50.00, charged under the schedule for "an entry permit and other authorisation or service to facilitate entry in to American Samoa" (ASAC 41.1007(c)(9)). ASAC 41.1010 lets the Attorney General waive fees for good reason, the waiver being in writing and setting out the reason. No application route, office, form, deadline, decision-maker or extension provision is stated for this authorisation.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The "only one extension of 30 days" rule in ASAC 41.1007(d) is written for a visitor granted a 30-day permit, and approved form IO 101 is titled "Application fo Extension of 30 Days Entry Permit" (sic); the source does not state that either covers an emergency authorization. Reading them across would be an inference, not a sourced fact.
  • ASAC 41.1007(c)(9)
    (9) Authorization to enter American Samoa granted to an alien due to an emergency to permit entry without proper travel documents or other non-compliance with entry requirements - $50.00.
  • ASAC 41.1007(c) (chapeau)
    (c) The following fees shall be charged for an entry permit and other authorization or service to facilitate entry in to American Samoa:
  • ASAC 41.1010 (Waiver of Fees)
    The fees imposed in this title of immigration rules may be waived at the discretion of the Attorney General for good reason. Waiver of a fee by the Attorney General shall in writing setting forth the
  • ASAC 41.1007(d)
    (d) Upon satisfactory showing of compliance with the requirements of subsections (a), (b) and (c)(1) to (c)(5) of this section, the Attorney General or his designee, or the chief immigration officer may grant up to 30 days to visit American Samoa. A visitor granted a 30-day permit may apply for only one extension of 30 days; upon expiration of the extension, the visitor shall depart American Samoa immediately. The chief immigration officer shall report monthly the number of permits granted and receipt of fees. History: Rule 3-86, eff 7 Dec 86; amd 2003, eff 1 Apr 2003; amd 2010, eff 3 May 2010; amd Rule 2023 -0005, eff Apr 10, 2023.
  • ASAC 41.1007 (History note)
    History: Rule 3-86, eff 7 Dec 86; amd 2003, eff 1 Apr 2003; amd 2010, eff 3 May 2010; amd Rule 2023 -0005, eff Apr 10, 2023.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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