According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, FAS citizens have indefinite work authorization. “Under the terms of their respective Compacts of Free Association with the United States, citizens of the FSM, the RMI, and Palau are eligible to work in the United States as non-immigrants for an unlimited length of time.”
Under the compacts, FAS citizens are exempt from meeting the visa and labor certification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act as amended. The FAS citizens are allowed to enter the United States (including all U.S. states, territories, and possessions) and to lawfully work and establish residence indefinitely.
Based on USCIS website, in filling out I-9 forms, these Compact migrants should attest to being “an alien authorized to work.”
Since authorization does not have any expiry date, USCIS advises citizens of the FSM, the RMI, and Palau to enter “N/A” on the line calling for an expiration date in Section 1.
USCIS also stated on its website that an employer may not request or require that an employee present documentation, including a passport or accompanying I-94, to verify information used to complete Section 1 of Form I-9.
For USCIS, requesting such documentation based on an individual’s citizenship status or national origin may violate the Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision.
Under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b, it is an unfair immigration-related employment practice for a person or other entity to discriminate against any individual (other than an unauthorized alien, as defined in section 1324a (h)(3) with respect to the hiring, or recruitment or referral for a fee, of the individual for employment or the discharging of the individual from employment—because of his or her national origin or a protected individual’s citizenship status.
USCIS further clarifies on its website that citizens of the FSM, the RMI, and Palau are not citizens or nationals of the United States.
The website further added that Form I-9 instructions state that the term “noncitizen national of the United States” includes “certain citizens of the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.”
USCIS said this refers to a small group of residents of the CNMI in 1986 who voluntarily chose to give up their new U.S. citizenship and this is not applicable to FAS citizens, although they were also citizens of the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
As for requirements, FSM and RMI citizens may present an unexpired FSM or RMI passport and a Form I-94 or I-94A for Form I-9 purposes. This does not apply to Palauan citizens under the terms of the current Compact.
According to USCIS, the acceptable documents for RMI and FSM citizens for Form I-9 are (1) an unexpired passport from the FSM or the RMI accompanied by a Form I-94 or Form I-94A indicating nonimmigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association (List A); (2) an Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) (List A); or any combination of documents from List B and List C, including a driver’s license and an unrestricted Social Security card.
For a complete list of documents that fall under List, A, B, and C, go to www.uscis.gov.
List A includes passport from the Federated States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands with Form I-94 or Form I-94A showing nonimmigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the FSM or RMI.
List B includes identification cards issued by federal, state or local government agencies or entities, provided it contains a photograph or information such as name, date of birth, gender, height, eye color and address; school ID card with a photograph; voter’s registration card; U.S. military card or draft record; Military dependent’s ID card; U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariners Document Card; Native American tribal document; driver’s license issued by a Canadian government authority; among other documents.
For minors, documents List B documents include school record or report card, clinic or hospital record, or nursery or preschool record.
List C includes SS number card, birth certificate and I-179.
As for Palau citizens, the acceptable documents are (1) Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) (List A); or any combination of documents from List B and List C, including a driver’s license and an unrestricted Social Security card.
Compact migrants or the FAS citizens should be allowed to choose from among these acceptable documents which ones to present to establish identity and work authorization.
USCIS said these citizens will not generally have an expiry date in the Form I-94 or Form I-94A.
In some cases, USCIS says FSM or RMI citizens may have a “D/S” or “duration of status” on the Form I-94/I-94A which indicates that these individuals are authorized to remain as long as they have a valid status.
The notation of these forms under class of admission may vary. USCIS cites as example the notation as of early 2011 was “CFA/FSM” (Compact of Free Association/Federated States of Micronesia) for FSM citizens; or ‘CFA/MIS’ (Compact of Free Association/ Republic of the Marshall Islands) for RMI citizens.”
For FSM and RMI citizens born admitted to the U.S. before the effective date of their compacts (October 21, 1986 for the RMI and November 3, 1986 for the FSM), these workers will need to present a valid Employment Authorization Document or other acceptable evidence from List A, or Lists B and C.
For more details, go to www.uscis.gov.
