Samoa and American Samoa are different issuing jurisdictions. We identify the authority, place, record type, language scope, and recipient instructions instead of treating every Samoan-language document as a Samoa government record.
Use checkout for an eligible clear, complete, ordinary modern typed Samoan file with a known issuer and page count. Choose Other and enter Samoan in the revealed source-language detail field.
Use quote review for mixed Samoan-English records, handwriting, historical spelling, uncertain macrons or glottal-stop marks, dense tables, damaged scans, multiple files, matai-title conflicts, or recipient-controlled wording. Eligible clear, complete, ordinary modern typed Samoan pages with a known issuer and language scope start at $19.99 per page with standard 24-hour delivery after scope confirmation. Mixed-language, handwritten, historical, damaged, dense, spelling-sensitive, or recipient-specific files are quoted first.
Review pricing, the order-versus-quote guide, or the language directory before choosing a route.
Which Samoan spelling and register appear on the document?
Samoan records may use marked or unmarked spelling, formal language, older forms, or mixed English, so the printed convention controls.
We preserve ā ē ī ō ū when printed and distinguish a straight apostrophe, curly apostrophe, turned-comma-like glottal mark, punctuation, and scan specks from the actual source. Sāmoa, Samoa, fa'a-, and fa‘a- remain as the record presents them; no mark is added or removed merely to modernize the page.
The inventory covers headings, abbreviations, parallel English, handwritten additions, official terminology, and shifts between traditional, modern, or formal register. Samoa's National Samoan Language Framework treats official documentation, terminology, translation, quality control, and traditional and modern language as distinct policy concerns. That evidence supports careful source control, not one automatic spelling conversion.
If a mark, word, or register cannot be read confidently, the buyer needs a better image or quote review. Translation reports readable text without deciding which spelling should govern outside the supplied record.
How are Samoan personal names, matai titles, villages, and islands handled?
Names, matai titles, villages, districts, islands, offices, and churches follow readable source evidence and documented recipient spelling.
We preserve name order, particles, initials, aliases, maiden names, capitalization, title placement, macrons, glottal marks, and identifiers as printed. Samoa's official passport application separates legal given and last names from Suafa Matai, other entitled names, maiden name, birth details, and supporting title or marriage documents. Those fields are not collapsed into one identity line.
A passport, prior certified translation, or written recipient instruction may support an established Latin spelling for the same person. It cannot overwrite readable source facts such as dates, numbers, classifications, offices, or a different printed name. Conflicts stay visible and route to quote review rather than being silently merged. Translation does not award a matai title or establish identity, genealogy, rank, nationality, citizenship, village affiliation, kinship, or land rights.
How are Samoa birth, marriage, death, adoption, and name-change records translated?
pepa fanau — birth certificate
pepa faaipoipo — marriage certificate
pepa maliu — death certificate
pepa faamaonia o lou tagatanuu — citizenship evidence
Samoa civil records retain the record type, parties, dates, places, registry details, amendments, signatures, seals, and readable fields.
The Samoa Bureau of Statistics Births, Deaths and Marriages division covers births, deaths, marriages, adoptions, and legal name changes. Its Samoan annual report uses pepa fanau, pepa faaipoipo, and pepa maliu for birth, marriage, and death certificates. Those official labels may identify supplied documents, but they are not treated as universal headings for every record.
We preserve notification or registration wording, parents, spouses, declarants, informants, marriage officer, court order, record number, issuing office, corrections, reverse-side text, and attachments. A home-birth packet may include village-representative or baptism evidence; a marriage file may include a Marriage Register; an adoption or dissolution file may include a court order. No packet is assumed to contain all of those items. Buyers can also review birth-certificate and marriage-certificate guidance.
How are Samoan passports, citizenship evidence, and identity documents handled?
Passport and citizenship records require exact names, title fields, maiden names, birth details, numbers, dates, authorities, and document labels.
Samoa's bilingual passport application distinguishes applicant details, legal names, title names, maiden name, date and place of birth, occupation, and supporting evidence. One official instruction uses pepa faamaonia o lou tagatanuu for citizenship evidence. We preserve the actual bilingual pairing, checkbox, endorsement, photo-page data, signature, expiry, authority wording, and supporting-document label rather than extending that phrase to unrelated records.
Language, birthplace, family name, or an untranslated attachment does not prove citizenship, nationality, travel permission, identity, or title entitlement. Passport, citizenship, immigration, and civil-registry files may have different issuers and purposes, so each authority and document type is inventoried separately. Unclear bilingual rows, endorsements, seals, or dense supporting packets need quote review. The passport translation guide explains the written-document route, but recipient instructions still control the packet.
Why must Samoa and American Samoa records stay separate?
Samoa and American Samoa are different jurisdictions, so authority, record system, place names, document type, and recipient rules need confirmation.
Samoa records may name Apia, Upolu, Salelologa, Savai‘i, or the Samoa Bureau of Statistics BDM system. American Samoa records may name Pago Pago, Tutuila, Manu‘a, a territorial office, or a U.S.-linked recipient. Those place clues guide inventory; they do not replace the issuing authority printed on the page.
The U.S. Department of the Interior describes American Samoa as a U.S. territory that controls its own immigration and border matters and is outside USCIS jurisdiction for entry to American Samoa. That limited fact does not mean a Samoan-language record is exempt from translation for a separate federal, state, school, court, employer, or licensing filing. We never relabel one jurisdiction's authority, civil record, nationality term, or legal status as the other's.
Which Samoan academic, church, court, medical, employment, and financial records need special care?
Academic, church, court, medical, work, and financial records need exact headings, institutions, parties, dates, values, identifiers, and register.
School records retain subjects, marks, totals, award, academic year, institution, and registration number. Church files keep baptism entries, minister names, parishes, dates, notes, and quoted language. Court, medical, employment, and financial documents preserve case numbers, parties, order text, treatment wording, employer and role, pay period, account rows, currencies, stamps, signatures, and handwritten additions where readable.
Formal Samoan, conversational evidence, quoted speech, and English switches remain distinct. The National University of Samoa describes Samoan study across grammar, oral and written sources, traditional and modern language, translation, syntax, semantics, and different registers. That supports register-aware handling, not an invented fixed glossary.
Buyers may consult academic, court, medical, or bank-statement guidance. Corpus does not evaluate credentials, interpret theology or law, diagnose, certify finances, validate issuers, or decide cultural status.
What scan and OCR problems matter for Samoan documents?
Complete color scans protect macrons, glottal marks, names, matai titles, numbers, seals, tables, handwriting, and reverse-side text.
Send an original PDF or straight, uncropped, high-resolution color images showing every corner. Include the back, continuation pages, attachments, faint seals, barcode or QR text, photographs, and handwritten notes. Visual review rechecks a macron versus dust or compression, a glottal mark versus apostrophe or speck, Sāmoa versus Samoa, Savai‘i punctuation, names, dates, identifiers, repeated amounts, bilingual columns, and page order.
Glare, crop, skew, bleed-through, low contrast, archive type, damaged paper, folded seals, and handwriting can hide a mark or move a value into the wrong row. OCR is only a draft because it may drop diacritics, merge columns, split names, or invent punctuation. A better scan or quote is required when reading remains uncertain. Unreadable material is marked as unreadable and is never reconstructed from context.
What does USCIS or another recipient control, and which path fits?
Recipient rules control the packet; checkout fits a clear typed Samoan file, while mixed, damaged, historical, or sensitive work needs a quote.
For USCIS, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) requires a full English translation certified as complete and accurate, plus certification that the translator is competent to translate. Buyers should follow current form, RFE, NVC or consular, court, school or evaluator, employer, licensing, bank, or other documented recipient instructions. American Samoa's local entry system remains distinct from a USCIS filing elsewhere.
Use Start your order for an eligible clear, complete, ordinary modern typed Samoan file with known scope by choosing Other and specifying Samoan. Use Get a quote and select the named Samoan option for mixed, handwritten, dense, damaged, historical, complex, spelling-sensitive, or recipient-specific work. Our USCIS translation guidance covers the written-document route. Corpus does not provide authentication, notarization, apostille or legalization, hard copy or mailing, interpretation, retrieval, credential evaluation, legal advice, or immigration advice.
FAQs
What does certified Samoan document translation cost?
Eligible clear, complete, ordinary modern typed Samoan documents with known issuer and language scope start at $19.99 per page. Mixed, handwritten, dense, historical, or spelling-sensitive files need quote review.
How do you handle Samoan macrons and glottal-stop marks?
We preserve the source's printed macrons, glottal-stop marks, punctuation, and unmarked spellings, checking them against the complete image rather than silently modernizing the record.
Can you translate Samoan names and matai titles?
We translate surrounding text and preserve readable names, title fields, spelling, order, and identifiers without deciding identity, title entitlement, genealogy, rank, or land rights.
Which Samoan documents can you translate?
We translate readable Samoan civil, passport, identity, academic, church, court, medical, employment, financial, and personal document text.
Are Samoa and American Samoa records handled the same way?
No. They are distinct issuing jurisdictions, so we identify the authority, record type, place names, language scope, and recipient instructions before translation.
How do you check Samoan scans and OCR?
We compare macrons, glottal-stop marks, names, titles, numbers, seals, bilingual columns, handwriting, reverse sides, and page order with the complete source image.
When does standard 24-hour delivery apply?
Standard 24-hour delivery applies after scope confirmation only to eligible clear, complete, ordinary modern typed Samoan files with known issuer and language scope.
Should I start an order or request a quote?
Start an order for an eligible Samoan file by choosing Other and specifying Samoan. Request a quote for mixed, handwritten, dense, damaged, historical, complex, or spelling-sensitive work.