The restrictions on entry permits imposed under the emergency public health declaration due to the measles outbreak is causing a lot of distress among travelers and their sponsors and are affecting some local businesses.
The main complaint is that the rules keep changing, are not uniformly applied and ASG officials involved in the entry permit review and approval process don’t seem to be on the same page.
KHJ News talked with some of the affected companies on the impact of the restrictions on their operations.
Lisa Gebauer, Human Resources Director for BlueSky, said in general “we do our best to advise our incoming visitors from our parent company and other companies, that is technical contractors, auditors, trainers in advance about the process especially those with passports from countries that are not on the American Samoa Entry Permit Waiver Country list.
She said BlueSky is supportive and understands the government’s reasons for implementing the new requirements (i.e. police, medical and MMR clearances and DHS background checks). But their frustrations come when various ASG functions are not all on the same page with regards to the
permit process.
“This often adds more time to an already lengthy process needed to get a single entry permit due to the back and forth between departments,” she pointed out.
A case in point: a contractor for BlueSky from New Zealand couldn’t get his “Ok to Board” permit online which was the established process whereby a traveler would only need to submit their travel ticket and passport details.
There were no updates on the immigration website to advise the traveler that the “Ok to Board” process has now changed to include MMR documentation and that it is now an in-person walk in process.
Gebauer pointed out that many of their off-island independent contractors manage their own travels, and it was a frustrating experience during the traveler’s transit through Samoa.
The New Zealander’s travel to American Samoa and contract work were postponed until BlueSky was able to get all of the local authorizing signatures at the various ASG departments which incurred unexpected additional costs to the company and traveler.
The BlueSky HR Director is hopeful that improved communication between the various ASG departments and continuing public notices to the community and businesses about the entry permit process, would help diffuse much of the public’s frustrations.
ANZ Country Manager Tasi Scanlon said some of their commercial customers, who are residents of Samoa but own businesses here, have also been inconvenienced.
Some were turned away at the airport because they were just a few days short of the 14 day prior to arrival immunization requirement, while others who had been issued permits prior to the measles outbreak, and had paid a lot of money for, as in the case of multiple entry permits, were refused entry.
Even US citizens traveling from Samoa who were to transit here for a few hours for flights to Hawaii could not enter or were turned back at Tafuna.
Tourists from Canada and Europe traveling from Samoa, and had obtained all the necessary clearances under the new regulations including their immunization records, were denied entry permits. And the hotel with which they had booked rooms had to refund their money.
With the emergency declaration continued another 30 days the restrictions on entry permits will remain in place up to Februrary 6.
