Vanuatu is an island state in the Pacific Ocean sitting between Australia and Fiji. It is popular with Australians as a tourist destination but there is one more aspect about Vanuatu that deserves attention. Namely, the country ‘sells’ its passports to foreign nationals.
Life is very simple in Vanuatu and even though it is a tropical paradise with comfortable temperatures throughout the year, the islands regularly get hit by storms and hurricanes. The passport of Vanuatu is a rather strong travel document but it has lost part of its power recently.
Sanctions against Vanuatu
Citizens of Vanuatu used to have visa-free access to the Schengen zone, Switzerland, Ireland, and Great Britain. In March 2022, the European Commission suspended the visa-free agreement with Vanuatu.
In August 2023, Great Britain suspended the visa-free agreement with Vanuatu and Switzerland and Ireland later followed suit.
Initially, the visa-free regime was suspended until August 2024 and then the suspension was extended until February 2025. The authorities of Vanuatu were told that they had to reform their citizenship-by-investment program to regain visa-free access to Europe for their citizens.
Vanuatu’s response
In response, the Vanuatu Government announced in early August 2024 that all applicants for economic citizenship of the country had to visit Vanuatu in person to submit their biometric data and collect their passports. This announcement appalled both immigration agents and their clients. After all, Vanuatu is a remote country and reaching it is difficult for most people.
As a result, the requirement has softened. The Vanuatu authorities have decided to install personal identification equipment in four of their embassies. Namely, biometric data needed for obtaining a passport of Vanuatu can be taken in Belgium, Hong Kong, the UAE, and New Caledonia. This means that a personal meeting with the Vanuatu authorities is now required if you would like to become an economic citizen of the country. At the same time, a long trip to Vanuatu is not required, which is certainly good news.
Conditions for obtaining economic citizenship of Vanuatu
Vanuatu has several competitors in the investment immigration market. In particular, citizenship-by-investment programs administered by 5 Caribbean countries have been highly popular. Vanuatu outperforms its competitors in two respects. First, a passport of the country can be acquired within 2 to 3 months. The Caribbean countries take 6 months or even more to process applications for citizenship.
The second advantage that Vanuatu gained only a couple of months ago is as follows: a passport of Vanuatu is the cheapest second passport that you could find. Citizenship of Vanuatu ‘costs’ from US$ 130,000 to US$ 180,000 and it was not the lowest price until recently. Dominica and Antigua used to ‘sell’ their passports for US$ 100,000 plus administrative fees. Presently, passports of no Caribbean country ‘cost’ less than US$ 200,000. Yes, prices have been raised in the Caribbean recently.
Vanuatu immigration programs for foreign investors
Even though the program is officially referred to as a ‘citizenship by investment program’, it is essentially a ‘citizenship by donation program’ in Vanuatu’s case. The Caribbean countries do offer opportunities to make returnable investments to qualify for their citizenship. The Vanuatu authorities have been discussing the possibility of offering such an opportunity too but nothing has changed so far: you can obtain citizenship of Vanuatu only in exchange for a non-returnable donation.
There are three options that you can choose from if you want to become a citizen of Vanuatu by donation. The least complicated option is the Development Support Program. If a single foreigner is applying for citizenship, the donation amount is US$ 130,000. If a married couple is applying, the donation amount is US$ 150,000. If a family of 3 is applying, the donation is 165,000. If a family of 4 is applying for citizenship of Vanuatu, the required donation amount is US$ 180,000. If a larger family is applying for citizenship, each extra member would ‘cost’ the investor an additional US$ 10,000.
‘Typical’ families (husband, wife, and one or two underage children) have been able to use a special offer since recently. Donate US$ 150,000 and all the family members will qualify for citizenship of Vanuatu.
The prices are set by the Vanuatu Government. If somebody tells you that you can ‘buy’ citizenship of Vanuatu at a lower price, you are talking to a fraudster. Besides, you’ll have to add the immigration agent’s fee to the amounts given above. A licensed agent has to be involved in the process of Vanuatu citizenship acquisition: you cannot apply for citizenship on your own.
In addition to that, you’ll have to pay a due diligence fee of US$ 5,000. The state duty is negligible – only around 50 dollars.
An attempt to offer returnable investment opportunities
There is also an opportunity to combine a non-returnable donation of US$ 115,000 and a returnable investment in the Coconut Oil Fund of US$ 50,000 thus qualifying for citizenship of Vanuatu. The total amount is equivalent to the donation amount required from a family of 3.
The authorities of Vanuatu promise to return the investment after 5 years. As this opportunity has been available only since 2023, no investments have been returned so far. We are inclined to trust the Government of Vanuatu but probably you should disregard this opportunity until 2028. When the first case of a returned investment becomes known, we promise to report the case to you.
A new donation option
From 2024, foreigners are eligible to make donations to the Cacao Development Fund to qualify for citizenship of Vanuatu. The donation amount is US$ 150,000 and it is the same for a single applicant and a family of 2, 3, or 4 people. If the applicant family has more members, an additional US$ 250,000 is due for each extra family member.
If you take a close look at the options described above, you will see that applying via the Development Support Program makes better economic sense for a single applicant. A family of 3 or 4 should probably consider donating to the Cacao Fund. The second option might not look very reliable, as too little time has passed since it became available.
All in all, the Vanuatu citizenship-by-investment (or rather, citizenship-by-donation) program is rather interesting but it may not be the most attractive such program in the world. In view of the fact that Vanuatu passport holders have been denied visa-free access to Europe, the economic citizenship program that the country administers does not look very appealing. However, the Vanuatu authorities make every effort to regain visa-free access to the EU. When this happens, the Vanuatu economic citizenship program will become highly attractive. After all, it’s the fastest and the cheapest opportunity to obtain a second passport!
