Samoa Civil Registration

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Samoa

Civil Registration

How to Find the Records

Online Collection

• 1876-1920 : Birth registers, 1876-1920. Registration of births during the German occupation, 1876-1917 and during the British military occupation, 1917-1920
• 1889-1900 : Register of deaths, 1895-1899; births 1889-1900

For the following records, the index is available online, but the record images can only be seen at family history centers and the Family History Library:

• 1852-1915 : Births within the district of the British Consulate at Samoa, 1852- 1915
• ca. 1869-1915 : Births registered at the British consulate, ca. 1869-1915
• 1917-1920 : Register of births within the British military occupied territory of Samoa, 1917-1920, index available, but the images can only be seen at family history centers and the Family History Library
• 1920-1962 : European birth registers, v. 1-55, 1920-1962
• 1905-1992 : Birth registers for Upolu, Western Samoa, 1905-1992

Offices to Contact

Location: Local and national civil registry offices.

Registrar General of Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Adoptions
Department of Justice
PO Box 49
Apia, Samoa

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.

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