A cap on the number of foreigners allowed into the territory under the special provision in the immigration law is being considered by the Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Fainuulelei Alailima Utu made this known at a hearing of the House Legal Affairs Committee of the House, Wednesday.
He said currently the law does not place a limit on the number of foreigners who can be allowed into the territory under the special provision.
American Samoa Code Annotated 41-0301(d) states, “The numerical limitations established by this section shall not include aliens employed by the American Samoa Government or the United States of America, or aliens admitted and employed under Chapter 9 of this title, or other groups as further weighed by the board order upon the showing of extenuating circumstances.”
A report the AG gave the committee shows that, as of last year, there were 1,992 foreigners working in the territory under the special provision.
Thirteen percent are working for ASG, while the rest are working in the private sector.
The AG explained that he reviews and approves applications of those working for the government under the special provision while the Immigration Board handles applications from the private sector.
The top five nationalities of the special provision workers according to the report from the AG: Samoa-598, Philippines-574, Fiji-270, China-229 and Vietnam-70.
Another being change being considered, according to the AG is to increase the quota for permanent residents under ASCA 41.0403 (b) from 100 per year to 250 per year for new permanent residents who have lived in American Samoa physically, legally, and continuously for 20 years.
There are many more than 100 permanent resident applications based on 20-year residency pending each year, so this statutory change would eliminate or significantly reduce the backlog.
A list the AG gave the committee, showed a total of 5,724 foreigners with P5 status as of 2023. This number includes the active P5s from all prior years and from the various amnesty programs, whose P5 statuses were renewed yearly in 2023.
(KHJ News incorrectly reported this was the number of applications for permanent residency).
The top five countries are Samoa-4,107, Philippines-610, Tonga-302, China-300 and Vietnam-158.
According to the Chair of the Immigration Board, Fanene Edda Wybersky, although there’s no cap on foreigners allowed in under the special provision, their board is trying to control numbers. For example, if they see it’s a small business, they will allow 1 or 2 employees. She said the majority of applications for large number of workers under the special provision are from construction companies.
One of the concerns of Representatives was if those allowed in under this clause are paying taxes.
Chief Immigration Officer Fagamalaga Fualaau said, for special provision workers, they must provide tax statements to show that they paid taxes from the previous year, before their IDs can be renewed.
