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Last reviewed: August 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice about any particular case. The terms of the Compacts and the rules applied at the border change over time, and the officer at the port of entry always has the last word.
This is one of the most powerful travel rights to the United Staes, and it is almost unknown outside the Pacific. A citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands may come to the United States without a visa, and — if admitted — may live here, work here and study here, indefinitely. Not for ninety days like a Visa Waiver Program traveler. Not for six months like a visitor. Indefinitely, with no expiration date on the stay and no employment authorization document to apply for.
It is not a green card and it is not citizenship, and the differences matter. But as a practical matter it is closer to permanent residence than anything else on this branch of the handbook.
The Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands were once part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, administered by the United States. When they became independent, the relationship was set out in Compacts of Free Association — treaties under which the United States retains defense responsibilities and provides economic assistance, and in exchange citizens of the two nations receive a right of entry that no ordinary visa waiver comes close to matching.
Because the right comes from a treaty rather than from the ordinary visa regulations, it is administered mostly by the Department of Homeland Security rather than by consular officers. The Department of State's own guidance on travel without a visa now simply points readers to the immigration agencies for this topic.
The right belongs to:
It does not extend to everyone holding an FSM or RMI passport. A person who acquired that citizenship later — by naturalization, by marriage, or through an investment or economic citizenship arrangement — is outside the Compact provision and needs a visa like any other foreign national. This is a real limitation and not a technicality, and it is the first thing to check when the passport and the birthplace do not match.
A citizen entitled to Compact treatment applies for admission at a port of entry without a visa. If admitted, the person is admitted as a nonimmigrant under the Compact and may reside, take employment and enroll in school. The period of admission is currently granted as duration of status, written on the arrival record as "D/S," meaning there is no fixed departure date.
Four qualifications deserve emphasis.
Admission is not guaranteed. The Compacts remove the visa requirement; they do not remove the inspection. Most grounds of inadmissibility in United States immigration law apply in the ordinary way, and criminal convictions are the most common obstacle we see. A person who is inadmissible can be refused entry at the airport notwithstanding the Compact.
The United States may set terms and conditions. The right of entry is a treaty right, but the conditions attached to the stay are set by the United States and can be changed. Duration of status is the current practice rather than a permanent guarantee, and it is worth confirming the position before making irreversible plans.
This is nonimmigrant status, not permanent residence. Compact status does not lead to a green card by itself, no matter how many years it lasts. It does not accrue toward naturalization. A Compact resident who wants permanent residence must qualify through one of the ordinary routes — a family petition, an employment petition, or another basis — and must satisfy every requirement of that route.
Status can be lost. Conduct that would make a nonimmigrant removable can end the stay, and the consequences are the same as for anyone else: removal proceedings, and bars on returning.
Travel on a valid FSM or RMI passport, and after arrival make sure you have the Form I-94 arrival record showing admission under the Compact of Free Association. Retrieve it from the Customs and Border Protection arrival and departure website after every entry, and keep copies somewhere you can find them.
The reason is employment. For Form I-9 purposes, an FSM or RMI passport presented together with a Form I-94 or I-94A showing nonimmigrant admission under the Compact is a List A document — a document that establishes both identity and authorization to work, all by itself. No employment authorization document is required, and no separate application to USCIS is needed before starting a job.
In practice, the passport-plus-I-94 combination is unfamiliar to many employers and human resources departments, and Compact citizens are sometimes wrongly told they need a card. Being able to produce a clean copy of the arrival record, and to point to where it appears on the government's own list of acceptable documents, resolves most of these conversations. If an employer refuses to accept it, that may itself be unlawful discrimination, and it is worth advice.
The Republic of Palau, also formerly part of the Trust Territory, has its own separate Compact of Free Association, and Palauan citizens are generally understood to have comparable rights of entry, residence and employment. The arrangements are not identical, however, and Palau is not named in the Form I-9 list item described above, which can create practical friction with employers. If you are a Palauan citizen, treat the description on this page as background only and get advice on the current terms that apply to you.
Some Compact citizens do need a visa — because they are inadmissible and are pursuing a waiver, because they acquired citizenship in a way that falls outside the Compact provision, or because they want a classification the Compact does not cover. A useful point in that situation: a native and resident of the freely associated states applying for a nonimmigrant visa pays the machine-readable visa application fee but is not charged the visa reciprocity issuance fee.
Eligibility for federal public benefits, Medicaid and other programs has been changed by Congress several times over the years and is genuinely difficult to summarize accurately at any given moment. We deliberately do not state a rule here. If benefits eligibility matters to your situation, ask us or ask a benefits specialist rather than relying on anything you read online, including this page.
See Travel Without a Visa for the other routes into the United States that require no visa, and compare the Visa Waiver Program, which allows ninety days of tourism and no work at all, to appreciate how unusual the Compact arrangement really is.
Come and see us if you have any criminal history, if you have ever been refused entry or removed, if your FSM or RMI citizenship was acquired other than at birth or in the 1986 transition, if an employer has refused to accept your passport and arrival record, if you have lost your arrival records, or if you are thinking about a path to permanent residence. Compact status is generous and stable, and it is also easy to jeopardize without realizing it. Contact our office and we will look at it properly.
Authority: Compacts of Free Association between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 9 FAM 201.1-3(E) (9 FAM 201.1 current as of March 26, 2025); U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Form I-9 Acceptable Documents (List A); U.S. Department of State, Travel Without a Visa.