Samoa Digital Nomad Visa

Samoa has no digital nomad visa, and none of its published permit purposes is a remote work category. Samoa Immigration issues four types of entry permit: Visitor, Temporary Resident, Permanent Resident and Ministerial.

Visitors can apply for a 90-day Visitor Permit on arrival using the arrival card. The entry conditions are a passport valid for at least 6 months beyond the intended stay, onward tickets already booked, visas for the next country of destination, sufficient funds and a fixed residential contact address. The Visitor Permit does not allow work.

Longer stays need a Temporary Resident Permit. It is issued for business and investment, employment, study, academic research, cultural and religious purposes, or family support and reunion.

Samoan tax residency

The Income Tax Act 2012 treats an individual as resident for a tax year if their home is in Samoa during the year, or if they spend 183 days in total in a 12-month period that starts or ends in that tax year. Residents are taxed on income from all sources in and outside Samoa, while non-residents are taxed only on income from sources in Samoa.

US citizens and green card holders

US citizens and resident aliens, green card holders included, are taxed on worldwide income whether they live in the United States or abroad. The benefits aimed at people living abroad, the foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign tax credit, are available only by filing the relevant US form.

The foreign earned income exclusion (Form 2555) is capped at US$132,900 for the 2026 tax year. It covers earned income such as wages and self-employment income, and excludes investment income, pensions and most rental income. The physical presence test needs 330 full days in a foreign country in any 12-month period. The foreign tax credit (Form 1116) reduces US tax by foreign income tax paid, so it has nothing to offset where no Samoan tax is paid on the income.

An FBAR on FinCEN Form 114 is required when the combined value of foreign financial accounts exceeded US$10,000 at any time in the calendar year. It is due on April 15 of the following year.

Treaty position

Samoa does not appear on the IRS list of US income tax treaty partners. Without a treaty, the ordinary US return rules and rates apply to the income. New Zealand has a double tax agreement with Samoa under the Double Tax Agreements (Samoa) Order 2015.