Dozens of Toa o Samoa will take the Oath of Allegiance to become U.S. citizens during a ceremony set for Oct. 27 at the Veteran Memorial Monument Hall in Tafuna. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Army Reserve Theater Support-Group Pacific coordinate the event.

The two federal agencies say in a statement that the soon-to-be citizens are all American Samoan nationals and members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Two officers with the USCIS will travel to Pago Pago to conduct the soldiers’ naturalization interviews, while USCIS District 26 director David G. Gulick will be on island to administer the Oath of Allegiance to the soldiers, swearing them in as U.S. citizens.

This will be the second naturalization ceremony held in American Samoa for locally based soldiers, with the first held on Sept. 2, 2010 where 42 Toa o Samoa were sworn in as U.S. citizens.

Holding a local naturalization ceremony for our Toa o Samoa was an effort initiated in October 2009, when Maj. John Adams, former Army Reserve Center installation commander, discovered that some of his soldiers, previously deployed to Iraq, couldn’t complete the naturalization process while in theater — or in the war zone.

Under special provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), qualified members of the U.S. Armed Forces are exempt from certain naturalization requirements to include residency and physical presence in the United States, according to background information provided by USCIS.

Service members who have served honorably on active duty or as a member of the Army Reserve on or after Sept. 11, 2001 are eligible to file for immediate citizenship under the special wartime provisions in Section 329 of the INA. Additionally, members of the U.S. Armed Forces are not charged a fee to file for naturalization or to receive their certificate of citizenship.