American Samoan citizenship and nationality

American Samoa is a territory of the United States with a population of about 44,000 people,^[1] but the people of American Samoa do not have birthright citizenship in the United States (unless at least one of their parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of their birth). Instead of being considered citizens, they are classified as non-citizen "nationals" of the United States. American Samoa is the only permanently inhabited territory of the United States whose inhabitants do not have birthright citizenship.

Non-citizen nationals do not have full protection of their rights, though they may reside and work in the United States and can gain entry without a visa.^[2] Territorial citizens do not have the ability for full participation in national politics^[3] and American Samoans cannot serve as officers in the US military or in many federal jobs, are unable to bear arms, vote in local elections, serve on a jury, or hold public office or civil-service positions even when residing in a US state.^[4] Like non-Americans, American Samoans can apply to become naturalized U.S. citizens, but they may only do so after moving away from American Samoa to become a resident of a US state.^[5][6]

Nationality is the legal means in which inhabitants acquire formal membership in a nation without regard to its governance type, whereas^[7] citizenship is the relationship between the government and the governed, i.e. a set of rights and obligations that each owes the other once someone has been classified as a citizen of a nation.^[8]

American Samoa consists of a group of two coral atolls and five volcanic islands in the South Pacific Ocean of Oceania.^[9] The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1830 by British missionaries, who were followed by explorers from the United States, in 1839, and German traders in 1845.^[10] Based upon the Tripartite Convention of 1899, the United States, Great Britain, and Germany agreed to partition the islands into German Samoa and American Samoa.^[11] Though the territory was ceded to the United States in a series of transactions in 1900, 1904, and 1925, Congress did not formally confirm its acquisition until 1929.^[11][12]