Yes, St. Croix is part of the United States. It is the largest island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, an unincorporated U.S. territory in the Caribbean that the federal government bought from Denmark on March 31, 1917, for $25 million in gold coin. People born there are U.S. citizens at birth, the dollar is the currency, and federal law applies. But St. Croix is not a state, and that distinction shapes voting rights, taxes, customs, and access to certain federal benefits in ways that catch many people off guard.
What “Unincorporated Territory” Actually Means
St. Croix falls under the Revised Organic Act of 1954, which designates the Virgin Islands as an “unincorporated territory of the United States of America.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 48 USC 1541 – Organization and Status Unincorporated means Congress has not extended the full Constitution to the territory. Under a series of early 1900s Supreme Court decisions known as the Insular Cases, only fundamental constitutional protections — things like due process and free speech — apply automatically. Other rights, including the guarantee of a jury trial, may not extend unless Congress specifically provides them.2U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The Insular Cases and the Doctrine of the Unincorporated Territory
Congress holds what courts have described as “entire dominion and sovereignty” over the territory through the Territorial Clause of Article IV.3Constitution Annotated. ArtIV.S3.C2.3 Power of Congress over Territories Day-to-day, though, the Virgin Islands run their own affairs through a locally elected governor (elected by residents since 1970)4Congress.gov. Public Law 90-496 – Virgin Islands Elective Governor Act and a single-chamber Legislature of the Virgin Islands with seats spread among St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and at-large districts.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 48 USC 1571 – Legislature
Citizenship at Birth
Anyone born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and subject to U.S. jurisdiction is a U.S. citizen at birth.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1406 – Persons Living in and Born in the Virgin Islands The citizenship comes from a federal statute rather than directly from the Fourteenth Amendment, but the practical effect is the same: Virgin Islands citizens carry U.S. passports, can move freely to any state, and can work anywhere in the country with no immigration paperwork.
The obligations follow too. Men ages 18 through 25 must register with the Selective Service System.7Selective Service System. Who Needs to Register Residents can be summoned for federal jury duty in the District Court of the Virgin Islands.8District Court of the Virgin Islands. Jury Information
Traveling to and from St. Croix
You do not need a passport to fly between the U.S. mainland and St. Croix.9U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Needing a Passport to Enter the United States from U.S. Territories Since May 2025, though, you do need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or another TSA-accepted form of ID to board a domestic flight. Standard non-REAL ID licenses no longer work at airport checkpoints. A U.S. passport, passport card, military ID, or Global Entry card are all acceptable alternatives.10Virgin Islands Port Authority. Travel FAQ
p>Customs is the part that surprises most travelers. The U.S. Virgin Islands sit outside the Customs Territory of the United States, which covers only the 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.11United States Postal Service. U.S. Virgin Islands Mailings When you fly back to the mainland from St. Croix, you clear U.S. Customs and Border Protection the same way you would returning from a foreign country. The trade-off is a generous duty-free allowance. Returning residents and visitors can bring back up to $1,600 in goods without paying duty, double the $800 exemption that applies coming back from most other countries.12U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Types of Exemptions Foreign nationals entering the territory need a passport and any visa or visa waiver they would need to enter any other U.S. port.9U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Needing a Passport to Enter the United States from U.S. Territories
Mail follows the same split. Domestic postage rates apply to packages sent between the mainland and the Virgin Islands, but the packages still go through customs clearance procedures as if they were foreign mail.11United States Postal Service. U.S. Virgin Islands Mailings
Voting Rights Change When You Move
This is the sharpest gap between St. Croix and a state. Residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands cannot vote for president. The Constitution grants Electoral College votes only to states, and the 23rd Amendment extended that right to the District of Columbia but not to any territory.13Constitution Center. 23rd Amendment – Presidential Vote for D.C. The territory also has no representation in the U.S. Senate.
Residents do elect a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, but that delegate cannot vote on the final passage of legislation.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 48 USC 1711 – Delegate to House of Representatives from Guam and Virgin Islands The delegate sits on committees, introduces bills, and speaks on the House floor, but the seat goes silent on final votes.
The practical consequence catches many people off guard. A U.S. citizen who moves from a state to St. Croix generally loses the ability to vote for president. Most states do not allow former residents living in territories to cast absentee presidential ballots, and unlike citizens living in foreign countries, territorial residents are not covered by the federal absentee voting law (UOCAVA).15U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Voting Rights in U.S. Territories Advisory Memorandum Move back to a state and establish residency, and full voting rights come back.
Taxes: The Mirror System
The Virgin Islands operate under a “mirror” tax system that dates to a 1922 federal law. The statute says U.S. income tax laws “shall be held to be likewise in force in the Virgin Islands,” except the revenue goes to the territorial treasury instead of the federal one.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 48 USC 1397 – Income Tax Laws in Force in the Virgin Islands The territory uses the same Internal Revenue Code as the mainland, with “Virgin Islands” swapped in wherever the code says “United States.”
If you are a bona fide resident of the Virgin Islands, you file with the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue rather than the IRS. You report your worldwide income on that return, and you generally do not need to file a separate return with the IRS.17Internal Revenue Service. Publication 570 – Tax Guide for Individuals With Income From U.S. Possessions The revenue stays local. The territory also has authority to offer tax incentives through its Economic Development Commission, which has historically provided steep reductions on corporate and personal income taxes to qualifying businesses.
Federal Benefits: Some Yes, Some No
Regular Social Security works the same as on the mainland. Workers pay in, earn credits, and collect retirement, disability, and survivor benefits. As of the most recent federal data, more than 22,000 residents were receiving Social Security payments.18Social Security Administration. Congressional Statistics – U.S. Virgin Islands
Supplemental Security Income is a different story. SSI is available only to residents of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The Virgin Islands are excluded, so low-income elderly and disabled residents who would qualify for SSI on the mainland receive nothing from the program.19Social Security Administration. Understanding Supplemental Security Income SSI Eligibility Requirements
Medicare covers residents the same way it covers people in the states. Medicaid runs on different rules. Instead of open-ended federal matching, the Virgin Islands receive a capped allocation of federal Medicaid funding. The federal government covers 55 percent of costs up to that cap, and the territory uses a local poverty level rather than the federal poverty level to decide who qualifies.20Medicaid.gov. United States Virgin Islands Once the cap runs out, the territory covers the rest on its own.
Courts, Currency, and Banks
The U.S. dollar is the only currency in use, and bank deposits at FDIC-insured institutions in the Virgin Islands receive the same $250,000-per-depositor protection as deposits on the mainland.21FDIC. Deposit Insurance Basics
Federal cases go to the District Court of the Virgin Islands, which has the jurisdiction of a regular U.S. district court, including bankruptcy and qualifying civil actions.22Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 48 USC 1612 – Jurisdiction of District Court Local civil and criminal cases are heard in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, established under territorial law.