AMERICAN SAMOA

Pets

AS is a rabies-free territory. If you come from any of the mainland states, your dog or cat will be required to complete a 30 or 120-day* confinement period at the Animal Quarantine Station in Hawaii as there are no quarantine facilities in AS. To qualify for the 30-day quarantine period, your dog or cat must meet many specific pre and post arrival requirements, and planning should commence at least 6 months before departure.

BRINGING YOUR DOG OR CAT TO A.S. SOIL:

To finally bring your dog or cat to AS from Hawaii, you must apply for an import permit from the AS Department of Agriculture (ASDOA). If you are physically in Hawaii, you can begin this process during the last 10 days of your pet’s stay in at the Hawaii Quarantine Station. You will also need a health certificate (obtainable at the quarantine station) dated within 10 days of your pet’s travel date to AS and then have it faxed to the ASDOA. Upon receipt of the health certificate (and payment of $50 fee), the ASDOA will issue an import permit for your dog or cat.

This process only works if you (or a co-owner) are in Hawaii at least a week before the scheduled release/travel date of your pet, and you also have a trusted contact person in AS that can follow up on the import permit and who can fax it to you in Hawaii.

The import permit and health certificate must accompany the dog or cat on the flight from Honolulu to Pago Pago. If you are not in Hawaii, you will need to hire an intermediate handler to obtain all the necessary documentation for you, as well as pick-up your dog or cat from the quarantine station and transfer it to the Honolulu airport for shipment to AS.

Once at the Pago Pago International Airport, you will be charged over-time fee for the inspection of your pet. Flights only arrive at night from Hawaii and employees are not present past normal business hours and therefore the Department of Agriculture charges a fee for this. They only take cash and local American Samoan checks.

Please check with the ASDOA for the current fees.

General Information

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa. The main (largest and most populous) island is Tutuila, with the Manuʻa Islands, Rose Atoll, and Swains Island also included in the territory. American Samoa is part of the Samoan Islands chain, located west of the Cook Islands, north of Tonga, and some 300 miles (500 km) south of Tokelau. To the west are the islands of the Wallis and Futuna group.

American Samoa is located within the geographical region of Oceania and it is one of only two possessions of the United States in the Southern Hemisphere, the other being Jarvis Island. With a total land area of 76.8 square miles, it is slightly larger than Washington, D.C. Consisting of five rugged, volcanic islands and two coral atolls, it is frequently hit by typhoons between December and March, due to its positioning in the South Pacific Ocean. In addition, Rose Atoll, located in American Samoa, is the southernmost point in the territory of the United States.