Page 27 - Micronesia

Micronesia: Short Background and Facts

T he first financial package of the Compact reflected in the fact that hundreds of FSM citizens
covered 15 years, from 1986 to 2001. Under serve in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and
provisions of the Compact, the Compact was further their education in the United States. The
extended for two years while the United States and FSM also uses the U.S. dollar as its currency.
the FSM completed negotiations for a new financial
package in 2003, covering 2003-2023. A Trust Fund Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia,
was also created to contribute to the long-term the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Palau
budgetary self-reliance of the FSM when the finan- Are Eligible to Work in the United States Indefinite-
cial grant provisions of the Compact expire in 2023. ly. Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia
Under the Compact, the United States provides (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI),
financial assistance, defends the FSM’s territorial and Palau are admitted to the United States as
integrity, and provides uninhibited travel for FSM nonimmigrants when admitted under the terms of
citizens to the U.S. In return, the FSM provides the those nations’ respective Compacts of Free Associa-
United States with unlimited and exclusive access tion with the United States. These three countries
to its land and waterways for strategic purposes. are sometimes referred to collectively as the “Freely
The close ties between the United States and the Associated States.”
FSM that go back to the end of World War II are also