ʻEwa Beach resident Matthew Howard has been waiting for his passport in the mail for weeks. The 31-year-old Chuukese applied for dual citizenship from the Federated States of Micronesia, a Pacific nation located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawai‘i.
Born in California, Howard was forced to choose between keeping United States citizenship or FSM citizenship. But he joined the U.S. Army, losing out on the benefits of being an FSM citizen, such as voting and rights to customary lands.
However, the FSM president signed an executive order in October allowing dual citizenship for Micronesians with parental ties to the island nation. Just weeks after the change in law, Micronesians living in the U.S. started applying for their passports.
“This is a historic moment because we’re going to have full say of what’s going on,” Howard said. “For me, having the ability to have the ownership of my land back home, I would be able to potentially do way more with it than what’s currently being done now.”
The Federated States of Micronesia is a Pacific nation governed by four island states: Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Yap.
FSM, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands are part of the Compacts of Free Association, three treaties allowing the U.S. military access to vast swaths of the ocean in exchange for job opportunities, education, and health care.
The COFA nations have a growing diaspora with more island residents living in the U.S. and having children. More than 18,000 Micronesians live in Hawaiʻi, including residents from FSM, the Marshall Islands and Palau.
Why it's more than a passport
The FSM was the only COFA nation that did not allow dual citizenship. Under a previous constitution, Micronesian children had dual nationality until they reached 18 years old. Then they had three years to choose which country to claim.
Now, Micronesians have a choice. Those who receive citizenship will gain access to ancestral land and be able to vote on issues in the FSM.
Angela Edward said regaining her FSM citizenship feels like she is solidifying her identity as a Micronesian.
Edward is Pohnpeian, born in Michigan. She felt pressured to choose her U.S. citizenship due to more scholarships and financial aid opportunities in college.
“I feel like both identities are extremely important to me in different ways,” she said. “It sounds weird but these passports, to me, they almost identify something that I feel, but it makes it tangible.”
Katie Retwaiut, 26, was born in Saipan and grew up in Arizona and New Mexico. Of Yapese descent, she found herself explaining her ethnicity to people who donʻt know what Micronesia is.
Retwaiut submitted her application for dual citizenship last week. Retwaiut said she expects to be emotional once she gets her FSM passport in the mail.
“It's very impactful to feel like I actually have this official connection,” she said. Retwaiut said she plans to visit her brother in Yap in the next five years.
Gaining access to land
Dual citizenship has been long debated in the Federated States of Micronesia as residents in the Pacific nation feared that foreigners would buy up land, according to Sen. Ricky Carl of the Pohnpei Legislature.
Before the compact, Micronesia was under colonial rule by Spain, Germany and Japan. It became a trust territory after World War II.
“Coming out of being under the rule of other nations and the Trust Territory, we felt the need to be truly independent,” Carl said.
Carl was part of an education task force created this year to travel to the U.S. and educate FSM citizens about the proposed constitutional amendments.
The FSM Constitution is revised every 10 years. He said dual citizenship was voted on four times. Now that dual citizenship is allowed, FSM descendants can gain access to customary lands.
Michigan resident Edward said her sole purpose in applying for dual citizenship is to ensure her family keeps their land in Pohnpei. She has family buried there and wants to maintain the land to honor her lineage.
She emphasized that she has no interest in urbanizing or gentrifying the land out of respect for her family.
ʻEwa Beach resident Howard said his family owns land on the outer island of Pohnpei called Sokehs. When his grandfather passed away, he divided the land among the women. His mom is one of the landowners.
“That's usually how it works back home," he said. “It's never the men that get the land, it's the women… Even though I would technically have ownership of the land, I wouldnʻt want to break culture and take that under my name.”
With his mother's permission, Howard said he wants to build a gas station to provide confidence for other FSM residents.
“I was thinking of putting a little gas station outside of my house,” Howard said. “By little, I mean if you see what they consider a gas station back home, it's just barrels of gas. You pull up and they put the gas in a little pitcher, they pour it down a funnel and that's it.”
Effects of dual citizenship on taxes and travel
Kalihi resident Austin Haleyalpiy is already a dual citizen of the U.S. and Palau. He is Palauan and Yapese, and considering applying for his FSM passport.
If at least one parent is an FSM resident, the Pacific nation will not deny someone dual citizenship, according to Sen. Ricky Carl.
“For us island people, we value the blood that runs in our veins,” Carl said.
Micronesians applying for dual citizenship must submit proof of parental ties, such as their birth certificates and their parent's passports. It is mailed to the FSM capital city of Palikir on Pohnpei for further review.
Carl said Micronesians must register with their island state to vote.
“If you are Pohnpeian, you must register in the respective district because you cannot be a Pohnpeian and you vote in Chuuk because Chuuk elects their own government leaders.”
Some Micronesians questioned if dual citizenship means they will be double taxed. In the U.S., property owners pay taxes for the land they own, but not in the FSM, according to Carl. He added that FSM citizens are taxed if working in the island state.
He said it is best to travel with a U.S. passport, but it's up to the individual.
Carl said the issue of dual citizenship is compelling as more Micronesian children want to know more about their culture.
He said there are “strengths in number” for allowing dual citizenship. He hopes it will encourage residents to move home.
“We are still in the early phases of this experiment,” Carl said. “And as we venture into the world of dual citizenship, we will learn whether this is good for us or not so good for us.”
