How to check a licensed Vanuatu citizenship agent before paying

Licensed Vanuatu citizenship agent: in brief

In brief: only a designated agent files applications with the Citizenship Office. Consultants and law firms prepare the client and file through such an agent, and this arrangement is lawful if the agent is named in the agreement and appears on the official list.

There is always an agent between the applicant and the state, and document preparation, the check and the timeline depend on them. Choosing a provider by price and promised speed is risky: what matters more is a transparent budget, the payment order and willingness to take responsibility in the agreement. How the programme works as a whole is described in the overview of Vanuatu citizenship by investment, and the steps in how to get Vanuatu citizenship step by step.

The designated agent’s role in the application

In brief: the Citizenship Commission and the Financial Intelligence Unit accept investment programme applications only from designated agents. The agent answers to the state for the accuracy of documents and the initial screening of the client.

• runs a preliminary check of background and source of funds before filing;
• assembles the document package to the Commission’s requirements;
• pays the FIU check fee: $5,000 under the DSP or $8,000 under the CIIP fund, per application;
• files the application and follows it through to approval and payment of the contribution.

The applicant pays for the agent’s work in any case. The difference is whether they get full support or a form forwarded without checks. This difference is checked before paying, and how the check works is described in due diligence.

A designated agent is needed specifically for investment programmes. Other grounds work differently: naturalisation requires 10 years of continuous residence in Vanuatu, and the marriage ground requires a lawful marriage and at least 2 years of residence in the country. The conditions are covered in citizenship through residence and marriage as a ground for citizenship.

Checking the agent against the official list

In brief: the Citizenship Office website publishes, in the Designated Agents section, the list of designated DSP agents with contacts, and in the Cancelled Agents section, the agents whose designation has been revoked. The agent is checked against both lists as of the filing date.

If a consultant handles the applicant, they name the designated agent who will file and state it in the agreement. The name is checked against the list on the official Government of Vanuatu website, and contacts are taken from there too, not from correspondence. The check is repeated before filing: an agent’s designation can change while documents are being prepared.

Official Government of Vanuatu websites use the gov.vu domain, so the site address is checked letter by letter, and links from emails and messengers are not opened until the address is verified.

Seven checks on an agent

In brief: before signing, check the designated agent, the legal entity, experience, budget transparency, payment order, who corresponds with the Commission and how the preliminary check works.

1. Designated agent. Who will file, and are they on the Designated Agents list. An evasive answer is a warning sign.
2. Legal entity. The agreement and invoice come from a registered company. A payment to a private individual’s card or to a company in a third country without explanation is a reason to stop.
3. Experience. How many Vanuatu applications were handled in the past year, and on what grounds there were refusals.
4. Budget. DSP contribution from $130,000, FIU fee $5,000, services and translations on separate lines. A single round figure without a breakdown leaves the applicant unable to see what they are paying for.
5. Payment order. A small advance for preparation, and the DSP and CIIP fund contributions only after Commission approval. Bank details for the contribution are taken from the official invoice.
6. Who files documents. The specific people who correspond with the Commission and the FIU.
7. Preliminary check. The agent checks risks before filing, so the applicant does not pay a non-refundable fee for an application with a high risk of refusal.

If at least three points raise doubts, the decision is postponed. Fraud scenarios are covered in Vanuatu passport scams.

Signs of an unreliable intermediary

In brief: a demand for full prepayment, payment to a private individual, a promise of citizenship without checks, an unrealistic timeline, a promise of visa-free Europe, no agreement and artificial urgency.

• Full prepayment. The DSP and CIIP fund contributions go to the state only after Commission approval, so a demand to pay the full amount at once contradicts the programme.
• Payment to a private individual. Money goes to a legal entity under the agreement, and government payments to official accounts.
• Citizenship without checks. The check is run by the state; an agent cannot cancel it or guarantee approval.
• An unrealistic timeline. A passport takes roughly 2-3 months from filing the full package; “two weeks” does not happen.
• Visa-free Europe. On 4 February 2023 the EU fully suspended visa-free travel for Vanuatu citizens. To live in Europe with a Vanuatu passport, Greek residence is arranged.
• No agreement. Arrangements only in messages mean the provider has nothing to answer for.
• Urgency. “The price goes up tomorrow” and “two places left” get in the way of checking the facts.

Destinations that are actually visa-free are collected in visa-free countries for the Vanuatu passport.

10 questions for an agent before signing

In brief: the questions check the agent’s designation, bank details, experience, budget, payment order, refunds on refusal, source-of-funds work, responsible people, timelines and understanding of visa regimes.

1. Which designated agent files the application, and are they on the Designated Agents list?
2. What is your legal entity, to whose account does payment go and with what payment reference?
3. How many Vanuatu applications did you handle in the past year, and were there refusals?
4. How is the total broken down: contribution, FIU fee, services, translations?
5. Which payments do I make before approval and which after?
6. What happens to the money if the application is refused?
7. How do you check the source of funds before filing, and which documents will be needed?
8. Who corresponds with the Commission and the FIU?
9. What are the timelines at each stage, and what do they depend on?
10. Does a Vanuatu passport give visa-free entry to Schengen, and how do holders get to Europe?

The correct answer to the last question: there is no visa-free Schengen access; Vanuatu passport holders reach Europe through Greek residence, and the passport opens 46 countries without a visa and another 42 with a visa on arrival. A comparison of programmes for travel is in Vanuatu or Dominica.

Write the answers down and check them against the agreement. If the agent gives one set of timelines and amounts in messages and the agreement shows another, the agreement prevails, so discrepancies are resolved before signing, not after paying the FIU fee.

Full support vs forwarding a form

In brief: both providers file through a designated agent, but when a form is simply forwarded, documents go without checks, while full support closes risks before filing and handles correspondence with the checkers through to the passport.

When a form is forwarded, documents go as they are. If the check raises a question about a gap in the background or the source of funds, the answer has to be assembled in a hurry, and the FIU fee has already been paid. With full support, a lawyer runs a preliminary check, builds a documented source-of-funds chain, answers requests and takes the application through to the passport.

• A pre-check in 1-2 working days. Sanctions and wanted lists, courts, public status, source of income, online footprint.
• The first-stage package in 3-5 working days. Passport copies, police clearance certificates, a CV in English, a second identity document.
• Replies to requests in 1-3 working days. Additional questions from the FIU and the Commission do not wait for weeks.
• Forms ready ahead of the sitting. Completed forms go to the agent no later than 5 days before the Commission sitting.
• After approval. The contribution via the official invoice, biometrics, the oath and delivery of passports.

The difference in service fees is usually out of proportion to the difference in risk: the contribution and check fee run to tens of thousands of dollars, while savings on support are a few thousand. Every budget item is covered in how much Vanuatu citizenship costs for a family.

The agreement with the agent: clauses to check

In brief: check the parties and the designated agent, scope of services, amounts and payment dates, refund terms on refusal, work timelines, liability, confidentiality and termination.

1. Parties. The provider’s legal entity with its details and the designated agent who files.
2. Scope of services. Preliminary check, document preparation, filing, replies to requests, biometrics, the oath, delivery of passports.
3. Amounts and stages. Services, FIU fee and contribution on separate lines with the payment stage for each; translation and certification as invoiced.
4. Refusal. What is refunded on refusal, within what time and which amounts are retained.
5. Timelines. Benchmarks by stage and what they depend on, without a guarantee of approval.
6. Confidentiality. How documents and personal data are stored and to whom they are passed.
7. Termination. How to end the agreement and what happens to services already paid for.

If there is no clause on refunds on refusal, assume by default that services paid for are not refunded. For the CIIP fund, read the fund participation terms separately: the $50,000 return after 5 years and the early exit procedure. How payments are split by stage is described in payment order by stage.

BRIDGES application support

In brief: BRIDGES takes the client from the preliminary check to the passport and passes the application to a designated agent from the official list. We name the agent before the agreement, and the applicant checks it in the Designated Agents section on vancitizenship.gov.vu.

• Preliminary check. Before any payment we assess background, source of funds and previous refusals. If the risk is high, we say so before the fee is paid.
• An itemised budget. DSP contribution of $130,000 for one person, $150,000 for a couple, $165,000 for a family of three, $180,000 for a family of four, or the CIIP fund at $157,000 for a family of up to four. Beyond the contribution, the only payment to the state is the FIU fee: $5,000 or $8,000 per application.
• Payment order. The contribution under both programmes after Commission approval, services to a legal entity under the agreement, government payments to official accounts.
• Support through to the passport. Documents, correspondence with the Commission and the FIU, biometrics in Dubai, Hong Kong, Moscow, St Petersburg or Port Vila, the oath by video call, delivery of passports.

A family is handled in one application: a spouse, children under 25 and parents over 50 are included from the start, and each member’s documents are cross-checked. The conditions are covered in Vanuatu citizenship for the whole family, and how a CEO with a tight schedule takes the oath by video call is shown in case: the oath without a trip to Vanuatu.

The scope of services is on Vanuatu citizenship with BRIDGES, stages and documents are collected in the guide to Vanuatu citizenship, and the total for your family is shown by the family cost calculator.

What an agent must explain before starting

In brief: a reliable agent explains, before the agreement, the timelines, the difference between the two programmes, dual citizenship, tax residence, the route to Europe and programme changes of recent years.

Timelines. Roughly 2-3 months from filing the full package: the FIU check takes up to 7 working days without requests, the Commission sits twice a month, after approval there are up to 3 months for the contribution and the oath, and the passport is issued in 1-3 weeks. Document preparation before filing is separate.

Two programmes. A single applicant or a couple does better with the DSP; a family of three or more with the CIIP fund: $165,000 turnkey, of which $50,000 is returned after 5 years. The comparison is in DSP or the CIIP fund.

Dual citizenship. Vanuatu allows it. The rules of the first country of citizenship are checked separately: Russia, for example, requires its citizens to notify the Interior Ministry of a second citizenship within 60 days.

Taxes. Vanuatu has no personal income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax, but the passport does not make a person tax resident in Vanuatu: residence is determined by the country where they live.

Programme changes. The agent names the dates that affect the family’s plans: admission to the CIIP fund resumed on 21 March 2016, the REO option has operated since 23 July 2021, EU visa-free travel for Vanuatu citizens has been fully suspended since 4 February 2023, a UK visa has been required since 19 July 2023, biometrics have been taken in person since 1 July 2025, and on 6 February 2026 the Council of Ministers considered a report on the citizenship programmes and ordered its recommendations to be implemented.

Europe. Vanuatu citizens need a visa for Schengen and the UK, and they start living in Europe through Greek residence: a turnkey package of a Vanuatu passport and Greek residence takes up to 9 months.

A comparison with other fast programmes is in Vanuatu or Nauru.