Guam is a small tropical island in the western Pacific Ocean and is a territory of the United States. Guam has changed hands many times from the Spanish, to America, the WWII Japanese invasion and occupation, and back to American hands where it's been since the close of WWII. Its economy is primarily dependent on tourism, which are mostly from Japan and other Asian countries,, and US military. It has a diversified ethnic group composed of the native Chamorro people, Filipinos, various pacific islands, and several Asian countries which are also represented here. Since Chamorro and English are its official language, communication shouldn't be an issue during your time on Guam.

So what do you need to know before you move to Guam?

• Admission Procedure

  Guam is an U.S. Territory that has its own democratic government. Like any other political territory, there are policies and restrictions applied to who comes in and what they can bring with them. Immigration is controlled by the U.S. Government, while importation of goods and personal property is overseen by the Guam Customs Agency.

  Guam has been granted some exceptions to visa requirements for several countries, allowing the tourism industry to attract more visitors. U.S. citizens and U.S. residents are not required to have visas, and in some cases passports are not required, for admission to Guam. While it's a good idea to have a valid passport, and you may find yourself stuck on Guam until you can catch a direct flight to the U.S., it's not mandatory, as long as you're flying directly to or from the U.S. on a U.S. air carrier.

  Good news for nationals of certain countries like Australia, Italy, Germany and more! Did you know that Guam has similar visa waiver program as that of United States of America? You can definitely get in and travel to Guam without a visa for a total of 90 days with just your valid passport. But please take note that it doesn't accordingly let you travel visa-free in the U.S. mainland.

  You can check out www.projectvisa.com to find out the specific requirements to enter from your country.

• Housing

  Some prior planning to ensure you have a place to stay is a little more important when you move to Guam than to other places in the United States. Hotel rooms can be very difficult to come by during certain parts of the year, and you never know when there may be a military exercise that bring hundreds, if not thousands, of military personnel to the island and filling up all the hotel rooms in the process. The best advices is to book early, and book more days than you think you'll need to find a permanent home. You can always reel in the length of your stay, but if you need to extend you could easily find yourself looking for another hotel that can accommodate you. If you're moving to Guam permanently or semi-permanently, be sure to contact us via our website at www.guamrentals.com so that we can get things lined up to find you a permanent place to stay as soon as you get here.

  Island Realty's website lets you explore all properties for sale or rent on the island. Our dedicated, professional agents have been assisting individuals and families moving to Guam for 12 years. We know what it's like, we moved here once too. Our business is focused on customer service and doing whatever we need to to assure your move to Guam is as hassle-free as possible.

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