Attorney General Talauega Ale has issued a new directive regarding bonds for 30-day permit visitors.
The April 21 memo which was issued to the Immigration Office with an immediate effective date governs the use of bonds for 30-day permits.
The AG ordered that foreigners who wish to enter American Samoa on 30-day permits and who have provided proof of return tickets to their points of origin or to onward destinations beyond American Samoa are not required to pay security bonds or any other form of bond, except fees associated with issuance of the entry permit.
Talauega told the Immigration Office Instead of requiring a bond they must deny the application for entry permit if you have a reasonable basis to believe that:
- The sponsor is merely a front, having no attributable connection to the foreign traveler;
- The sponsor has no ability to ensure that the traveler returns to his country of origin prior to expiration of the permit;
- The foreigner is planning to overstay in American Samoa,
- The sponsor has previously sponsored foreigners who overstayed in American Samoa or who overstayed in the territory or
- The sponsor or foreigner is on the watch list.
The watch list referred to is the Immigration Office list of foreigners whom the court has banned from entering the territory while they are on probation for convictions.
