Samoa: free Visitor’s Permit on arrival for foreign ordinary passports
Samoa Immigration says foreign nationals without Samoan citizenship or temporary residence receive a free Visitor’s Permit when they arrive, subject to entry requirements.
- Ordinary-passport short-visit classification only. Samoa Immigration states a destination-wide rule for foreign nationals who do not hold Samoan citizenship or a valid Temporary Resident Permit.
- The Visitor’s Permit is issued upon arrival and is therefore normalized as visa on arrival, even though it is free and a Samoa Tourism Authority page describes short visits as not requiring an entry permit in advance.
- Current Samoa Immigration guidance states 90 days. The Samoa Tourism Authority page still states less than 60 days; travellers should verify the permitted duration with Samoa Immigration because the official pages conflict.
- Entry requires a return or onward ticket, a passport valid for at least six months after intended departure, permission for the onward destination, accommodation details and evidence of sufficient funds.
- Grant remains subject to health, character, deportation-record, warning-list and immigration-clearance requirements and is not automatic admission.
- Does not decide residence, employment, study, longer visits, transit, crew, diplomatic, official, special-document, American Samoa territorial-national, emergency or case-specific treatment.