Samoa Passport Photo — Exact Requirements & Instant Compliance

A compliant Samoa passport photo is the difference between same-day approval and a wasted trip to the Immigration Division. The governing authority — the Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Immigration Division), whose official portal is mygov.gov.ws — publishes precise measurements that every printed photo must meet before your application is accepted.

One requirement that catches many applicants off guard is the endorsement rule. Samoa requires you to submit two printed passport photos, and the back of one of them must carry the handwritten statement "This is a true likeness of [full name]" — signed by a witness or guarantor. Without this endorsement, an otherwise perfect photo will still hold up your application. It is worth preparing both photos before you attend the office so the endorsement can be added on the spot.

• Size: 35 × 45 mm (digital equivalent: 827 × 1063 px at 600 dpi)
• Head height: 34.5 mm — the face must fill 60–80% of the total frame height
• Background: plain gray (#D9D9D9) — no patterns, shadows, or colour variations
• Expression: neutral, mouth closed, eyes open and looking directly at the camera
• Glasses: not permitted under any circumstances
• Head coverings: allowed only for religious or medical reasons; the full face must remain unobscured
• Recency: taken within the last 6 months — older photos are refused
• Print quality: high-resolution, no pixelation, no digital alterations to facial features

• Wrong background colour. A white or off-white background is the most common rejection cause. Samoa specifically requires a gray background, not white — a distinction easy to miss if you use a standard photo booth designed for other countries.
• Glasses left on. Glasses are categorically prohibited for Samoan passports. Even thin frames or lightly tinted lenses will cause a rejection.
• Missing endorsement on the back. Both photos may look perfect, yet the application stalls because neither carries the required "true likeness" statement.
• Head too small or too large. The head height must be very close to 34.5 mm. A face that fills less than 60% or more than 80% of the frame height falls outside the official tolerance.

Upload your own photo and it is automatically cropped and sized to the exact 35 × 45 mm official standard — correct gray background, head centred to the 34.5 mm specification, and output ready for professional printing. Before any payment you receive a free watermarked preview so you can confirm the photo looks right. If it is ever rejected by the Immigration Division, we will redo it at no charge or refund you in full — you only pay for a file you are satisfied with. Once your digital file is ready, print two copies, add the required endorsement on the back of one, and your photos are application-ready.