VisaAmerican Samoa residency applicants must budget for 2026 nationality-based bonds
Current guidance separates family and employment petitions, approval-before-entry requirements and a resident’s separate single-entry OK Board procedure.
Official source date: 2026-01-01
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Family and employment residency petitions require advance approval
Foreign nationals planning to establish residence in American Samoa should use the territorial residency procedure, rather than assume that visitor permission or United States immigration status is enough. The Department of Legal Affairs describes employment-based and family-based petitions and says both must be completed, submitted and approved before the person enters the territory. This is current guidance on existing procedures and the bond schedule effective from 1 January 2026, not a new November programme.
The department identifies form P-45 for employment-based immigration and P-12 for family-based immigration. It lists a USD75 application fee and USD30 identification-card fee for either route, with an additional nationality-based bond payable only after approval. Use the residency-petition page to establish which application to obtain and when the bond is due. The published fees do not demonstrate that every family relationship or job offer qualifies. Applicants should obtain the applicable eligibility and supporting-document requirements before making a final relocation commitment.
The current bond table differs materially from the old amounts
The official attachment compares old and new bond rates and marks the revised schedule effective 1 January 2026. For example, New Zealand’s listed bond increased from USD462 to USD1,450, Australia’s from USD467 to USD1,084, and Samoa’s from USD147 to USD325. The Canadian figure moved from USD904 to USD2,350. These are bond amounts, not visitor-permit charges or the total cost of a residency application.
Use the attachment’s new-bond column when discussing payment with Immigration, not an undated estimate or the adjacent old column. The table also lists Pakistan at USD3,021 and the Philippines at USD1,924, among other nationalities. It states that rates for countries not listed are based on the current reasonable airfare cost from Pago Pago to the country of origin. A missing nationality therefore does not establish a bond exemption. The attachment does not set out all refund conditions or resolve how a particular person’s nationality is assessed; confirm those questions before transferring funds.
A returning resident has a separate document-based travel process
The Department of Legal Affairs’ legal-resident OK Board page describes a single-entry process for returning residents or recently authorised immigrants. It asks for copies of a valid passport, an Immigration ID issued by the American Samoa Government and an itinerary or ticket. Its listed fee is USD50 and non-refundable. The page expressly says only legal residents able to prove that Immigration ID qualify. Use this page for its stated document checklist, rather than treating the residency-petition approval as proof that no further travel step exists.
There is an important practical uncertainty for a newly approved applicant who has not yet received an ID: the heading mentions recently authorised immigrants, but the eligibility note requires proof of the territorial Immigration ID. Resolve that mismatch with Immigration before relying on the online application. A first-time resident should not invent an ID number or substitute an unrelated United States card. An illustrative returning resident can assemble all three listed copies; a prospective resident still awaiting approval cannot assume the same eligibility merely because travel has been booked.
Confirm the correct office and keep each payment tied to its purpose
The department’s travel-and-entry guidance emphasises that American Samoa has entry rules different from those governing the mainland United States. It says a residency sponsor petitions on an employment or family basis. That is a separate question from choosing a short visitor permit. For a planned move, identify the sponsor and residency route first, obtain the required decision, then establish the boarding and arrival documents applicable to that decision.
The residency page still references the Executive Office Building in Utulei when describing form collection, while the department’s current office notice identifies Immigration’s temporary location at DYWA Pago Pago during renovation. Confirm the destination before visiting. Keep the application fee, identification-card fee, approved bond and any relevant OK Board charge separately documented; none should be assumed to replace the others. The resources do not establish a guaranteed decision time or permission to begin work while a petition remains pending. VisaWand editorial team edits and checks this guidance.
