Samoa's consul general in American Samoa, Mataafa Tomasi, says the onus is on local airlines to ensure that travelers to Samoa meet immigration requirements before they board their flights.
He says transit travelers who are not US nationals or citizens will not be allowed entry to Samoa if they do not have entry permits or tickets for their final destinations.
And he says if a traveler from American Samoa wants to make a day return trip to Samoa, they will not be permitted into the country, if they do not have entry permits or other authorization to re-enter American Samoa.
The Samoa Consul General says this is not a new law but local airlines say that it has only been within the last two weeks that their passengers have been subjected to the requirement .
Mataafa says airlines must make sure their travelers meet all immigration requirements of the countries they are going to before they issue them tickets but unfortunately that's not always the case.
