Everyone knows that the territory of the United States is located in North America. In fact, this is not entirely true.
In addition to the motherland and Hawaii, the United States owns several other territories that are not legally states and are not part of the United States, but they are subject to the US Constitution and the residents have American citizenship.
One such territory is the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Just 5 years ago, Russians could use it without a visa. This loophole was often exploited by pregnant women who wanted their children to have immediate American citizenship. In 2019, the visa regime returned to Guam, but this did not prevent the island from being attractive to tourists.
Briefly:
How Guam became part of the USA
How is Guam different from regular American states?
Why didn’t you need a visa?
Why was the visa-free regime cancelled?
Is it possible to fly to Guam now?
Brief summary
How Guam became part of the USA
Guam is located in the Mariana Islands archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean, roughly between Australia and Japan.
The island was a Spanish colony from 1565 to 1898. The United States conquered the island during the Spanish-American War, after which it was transferred to him as a result of the signing of a peace agreement.
Ignore the Japanese occupation during World War II, Guam has no other historical events in its history.
Guam is now the largest US military base in the Pacific Ocean, as well as a popular tourist destination.
The island itself is small. Its territory is only 544 km², which is 5 times less than the area of Moscow. The island is home to ~160 thousand people.
◦ Back to contents ◬
How is Guam different from regular American states?
Cities on Guam are small and tourist-oriented.
Guam has the status of an unincorporated territory with limited powers of self-government. The island is led by an elected governor who includes the local government.
The island has its own legislative branch. The main legislative body The Legislature consists of 15 senators who are elected for 2 years. Guam also has one delegate to the US House of Representatives, but he does not have the right to vote in plenary sessions.
Key differences between Guam and regular states:
▶︎ Residents of Guam are US citizens, but we cannot choose the president
▶︎ US federal laws are not ignored by some in Guam
▶︎ The US Congress has the power to repeal laws that come into force
▶︎ Residents of Guam do not pay federal income taxes
Otherwise, Guam differs from other states in climate, location and nationalities.
A third of the population is Chammoro, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, and the other third is Asian, including Filipinos, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese. The least on the island are of European origin (6.8%)Hispanics (3%) and African Americans (1%).
Official languages: English and Chamorro.
◦ Back to contents ◬
Why didn’t you need a visa?
Guam also has wildlife.
Since Guam has autonomy, exceptions are sometimes made for it. This was the case with visas for Russians.
From January 15, 2012 to September 3, 2019, Russians used Aliexpress Guam without a visa.
Of course, restrictions were observed:
▶︎ The maximum stay was no longer than 45 days.
▶︎ It was necessary to have round-trip tickets with you
At the time of the introduction of the visa-free regime, a similar privilege was available only to citizens of South Korea, Japan, Australia, Great Britain, and several countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Initially, the purpose of the visa-free regime was to popularize the resorts of Guam and Marian. Although it is still unclear why vision was canceled for Russians, given the fact that There are no regular direct flights from Russia to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. As a rule, Russian tourists flew to the islands from the airports of Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
◦ Back to contents ◬
Why was the visa-free regime cancelled?
US aircraft carrier off the coast of Guam
For five years, Guam had a visa-free regime, which thousands of Russian tourists took advantage of. Actually, this partly leads to its cancellation.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the success of the visa waiver program “has been overwhelming.” In 2017, 85% of all Russians arriving in Guam were blind. In addition, from 2012 to 2017, the number of Russian tourists staying in Guam for more than 45 days increased 5 times.
Although the number of delays represents a relatively small percentage of the total number of visitors from Russia, the increase in their number is itself a problem from a DHS perspective.
US Department of Homeland Security
It can be said that Guam was a very popular destination among Russian tourists. From January to July 2019, 3,078 Russians visited it.. For comparison, during the same period, 2.7 million Russian tourists visited Turkey. In July 2019 alone there were over 1 million.
On the forums you can find reviews from people about giving birth in Guam
In addition, the opening of Guam also demonstrated the political situation. Still, for the United States, this island is primarily a military base.
The openness of the islands and visa-free regime also contributed to the fact that pregnant women came here to give birth, because a child born on Guam automatically receives American citizenship. There are no exact statistics on how many Russian women took advantage of this loophole, but on the forums you can find many messages from Russian women who shared their experience of giving birth in Guam.
Among Korean women, Guam is also a popular place to give birth. The reason is similar.
◦ Back to contents ◬
Is it possible to fly to Guam now?
Yes, but it’s not as easy as it used to be. You will need a tourist visa issued by the US Embassy. In addition, due to problems with air traffic, it is probably a pandemic to fly through Turkey, and this is another transfer. The route turns out to be expensive and long.
Tourism is developing throughout the island. There are many beautiful beaches, and the island itself can be reached by rental car.
There are mountains here. True, the height of the highest of them is 406 meters. A little at first glance, but then they consider the growth from the seabed. And taking into account the fact that Guam is located next to the Mariana Trench, this is the highest point in the world.
Guam is also ideal for diving. Near its coast there are many sunken ships dating back to the beginning of the last century.
◦ Back to contents ◬
Brief summary
Guam is a unique place for many reasons. Firstly, from a military point of view, this is the United States, albeit with its own characteristics. Secondly, Guam is on the other side of the Earth, and its population is not similar to the average American one.
In terms of attractiveness for Russia, this place has no analogues. Of course, now you can’t fly to him without a visa, but 5 years ago this could be done, which many tourists took advantage of.
◦ Back to contents ◬
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
