Samoa Civil Registration

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Civil Registration

How to Find the Records

Offices to Contact

Location: Local and national civil registry offices.

Tuautu Kalepo, Civil Registrar on tuautu.kalepo@sbs.gov.ws
Ponifasio Vasa and Tupai Silapela, Deputy Rigistrars on ponifasio.vasa@sbs.gov.ws & tupai.silapela@sbs.gov.ws

Telephone : 32984, 32157 and 51538

https://www.sbs.gov.ws/bdm/location
https://www.sbs.gov.ws/

Samoa Bureau of Statistics

The Samoa Bureau of Statistics is located in downtown Apia on the ground floor of the DBS building, across from the fish market. This agency is where births, marriages, deaths, and adoptions are recorded for the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa. There are separate registers for the islands of Savai'i and Upolu.

To request a copy of a certificate in person, provide a name and date to the clerk at the customer counter. The clerk will retrieve a folder with loose certificates and will abstract data into an official form which will then be printed out for a fee. If you need to look at the certificate or photograph it you will be charged an additional fee.

The Family History Library has microfilmed many of these records. For help in obtaining vital records from American Samoa see American Samoa Vital Records.

Historical Background

Time period: 1923-present.

Coverage and Compliance

Population coverage: 90% coverage of the population in the 20th century; less for earlier periods.[1]

Information Recorded in the Records

Births

  • Date of the event, including time of day
  • Name of child
  • Names of parents
  • Occupation of parents
  • Religious preference of parents
  • Name of informant
  • Place of residence for parents

Marriages

  • Date
  • Name of principal and
  • Names of parents
  • Occupation of parents
  • Religious preference of parents
  • Names of witnesses
  • Place of residence of the groom and bride

Deaths

  • Date
  • Name
  • Names of parents
  • Occupation of parents
  • Religious preference of parents
  • Place of the deceased
  • Age at death
  • Cause of death
  • Place of burial

References

  1. The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Record Profile: Polynesia,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 1987-2000.