Vanuatu citizenship confidentiality: who learns about your second passport

Vanuatu citizenship confidentiality: in brief

In brief: confidentiality of Vanuatu citizenship means a closed application and no public lists of new citizens. The second passport is seen by those you show it to, and account data is reported by tax residence, not by passport.

Privacy of a second citizenship is best seen as two layers. The first layer is the fact of applying. Only those reviewing the application know about it, and the status does not appear in open registers. The second layer is using the passport. Each time a person shows the document to a border officer, a bank or a consulate, they disclose the citizenship themselves, and this is a normal part of travel and financial life.

• Closed. Forms, family and source-of-funds documents, the Commission’s decision.
• Visible when shown. The passport at the border, at the bank, on a visa application.
• Reported by law. Account data under CRS to the country of tax residence, and notification of the home country where its law requires it.

This arrangement suits those who need a second passport as a back-up document, for travel and banking, without publicity. The basic conditions are covered in requirements for Vanuatu citizenship applicants, the programme as a whole in Vanuatu citizenship by investment.

What stays closed: the application and lists of citizens

In brief: the application is reviewed by the designated agent, the FIU and the Citizenship Commission, and the Citizenship Office does not publish named lists of people granted citizenship under investment programmes. The programme does not provide for sending information on new citizens to other countries.

The circle of participants follows from how the application works. The designated agent receives the documents and passes them for checking, the FIU examines the background and source of funds, the Citizenship Commission decides and issues the certificate of citizenship, and the passport is issued by the Immigration and Passport Services. All these bodies handle personal data to review the application, not to publish it.

• Designated agent. Forms, passport copies, family and source-of-funds documents.
• FIU. Background, screening against sanctions and wanted lists, origin of money.
• Citizenship Commission. The full package, the FIU report, the decision and the certificate of citizenship.
• Immigration and Passport Services. Passport data and biometrics.

For a family this means colleagues, business partners or acquaintances will not learn of the decision from open sources. Documents of the spouse, children and parents go through the same procedure as those of the main applicant. Family composition is covered in who can be included in the application.

A closed application does not mean closed to the law. If a person is under investigation or wanted, the FIU check reveals it before the decision, and Vanuatu has been a member of Interpol since 20 November 2018. The programme protects the privacy of a bona fide applicant, which is exactly why the check before issuing a passport is strict. The programme’s legality is covered in legitimacy of Vanuatu citizenship.

Stages of the process and access to documents

In brief: documents pass through the participants stage by stage: pre-check, FIU, Commission, passport. At each stage only whoever is responsible for that stage has access to them.

The order is: a pre-check with the consultant in 1-2 working days, a short package for the FIU check in up to 7 working days without requests, the full package for the Commission sitting, which meets twice a month, then the contribution, the oath and issue of the passport in 1-3 weeks. The whole process takes roughly 2-3 months without relocation. The stages are described in detail in 7 stages of the process, the calendar in timeline by stage.

The document set depends on the member’s role: the main applicant prepares 11 documents, an adult member 7, a child 3. The more accurately the package is assembled first time, the fewer additional requests and the fewer hands the copies pass through. The list is in documents for Vanuatu citizenship by member.

After the passport is issued, it is the holder who widens the circle of people who know about the status: they choose which bank to go to and on which passport to enter a country. So the plan for using the passport is discussed before filing, not after receiving it.

CRS and automatic exchange of account information

In brief: CRS reports financial account data to the account holder’s country of tax residence, not to the passport country. A second passport neither switches exchange on nor off: the bank reports by the residence the client stated and confirmed.

CRS, the Common Reporting Standard, is the OECD standard for automatic exchange of financial account information. When an account is opened, the bank asks the client to complete a self-certification: citizenships, country of tax residence, tax number. At the end of the year the bank reports non-resident accounts to its own tax authority, which forwards the data to the client’s country of residence if exchange operates between the countries.

In Vanuatu the basis for this exchange is the International Tax Cooperation Act No. 7 of 2016, which provides for automatic exchange of account information. Vanuatu has also signed tax information exchange agreements with Australia, France and Finland. For a passport holder the conclusion is simple: an account in a Vanuatu bank or any other country is visible to the tax service where they are tax resident.

Banks operating in Vanuatu itself, National Bank of Vanuatu, ANZ, BRED and Bank South Pacific, also ask about citizenships, tax residence and source of funds when opening an account. An account in the passport country is no exception: self-certification rules are the same for banks that take part in exchange.

• Reported: the account holder, country of residence, tax number, balance and income on the account.
• Not reported as a separate item: the fact of acquiring Vanuatu citizenship.
• Decisive: the country of tax residence stated and confirmed by the client.

Tax residence is determined by where you live and the number of days in a country, usually under the 183-day rule, not by citizenship. Someone who lives in their home country remains its tax resident with a Vanuatu passport too. The tax side is covered in taxes in Vanuatu, residence in tax residence and the Vanuatu passport.

Where the second passport is visible: border, bank, visa application

In brief: the passport is seen by everyone you show it to: border services on entry, the bank when opening an account, the consulate on a visa application. This is a normal part of using the document, and a second citizenship must not be hidden where you are asked about it.

Border. Entry and exit are recorded against the passport shown, and the country of entry sees that the person entered as a Vanuatu citizen. The first country of citizenship applies its own rules: a Russian citizen, for example, enters and leaves Russia on a Russian passport.

Bank. When opening an account, the bank establishes all the client’s citizenships and tax residence and checks the source of funds. A second passport widens the choice of banks, but a mismatch between the form and the facts leads to the account being closed. Which banks operate in Vanuatu is covered in banks in Vanuatu.

Visa application. Many consulates ask about all citizenships. A second citizenship is stated where the form asks, and the visa goes into the passport used for the application. A Vanuatu passport opens 46 countries without a visa, and another 42 give a visa on arrival.

For an entrepreneur, the passport’s visibility at the bank and the border is more of a plus: a second document lets them keep travelling and making payments when something happens with the main one. The founder of an IT company obtained a Vanuatu passport precisely as a back-up document for travel and banking; details in case: a back-up passport for a founder.

Home-country duties: notification and accounts, with Russia as an example

In brief: some countries require their citizens to report a second citizenship. Russia, for example, requires notification of the Interior Ministry within 60 days. The confidentiality of the Vanuatu programme does not cancel such duties: they are requirements of your home country’s law, and the citizen fulfils them.

In the Russian case, the period runs from the date of receiving the passport if the person is in Russia, or from the date of entering Russia if the passport was received abroad. The notice is filed with the Interior Ministry’s migration unit. For breaching the procedure, for example filing late, Article 19.8.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences sets a fine of RUB 500 to 1,000, and for failing to file, Article 330.2 of the Criminal Code sets a fine of up to RUB 200,000. Check your own country’s rules before filing.

Such a notification does not make the second citizenship public: the information goes to the authority, not to an open register. On Russian territory, a citizen with two citizenships is treated only as a Russian citizen. The Russian procedure is covered in dual citizenship of Russia and Vanuatu, the general rules in a second citizenship and notification for Russian citizens.

A separate duty may concern accounts. A Russian tax resident, for example, notifies the tax service of opening an account in a foreign bank and reports cash flows annually; these requirements do not apply to those who spent more than 183 days outside Russia in a calendar year. Controlled foreign company rules also do not depend on the passport; they are covered in CFC rules and currency control for Vanuatu passport holders.

Privacy and anonymity: where the line runs

In brief: a second passport gives privacy, not anonymity. It does not hide accounts from the tax office of the residence country, does not release you from notifications and does not change entry rules.

1. The expectation “the passport will hide accounts”. Account data follows tax residence, whatever passport the client shows.
2. The expectation “no need to notify”. Where the home country requires notification, it is mandatory: in Russia, for example, within 60 days.
3. The expectation “the passport changes tax status”. Residence changes with relocation and days in a country, not with citizenship.
4. The expectation “Europe without a visa”. Vanuatu citizens need a visa for the Schengen area, and they start living in Europe through Greek residence.

A sensible goal looks different: a closed application, calm use of the passport and duties met in the country of residence. Then the second passport serves the family for years, and banks and border services do not ask unnecessary questions. Comparisons with other programmes are in Vanuatu or Dominica and Vanuatu or Nauru.

Programme conditions and data protection during the process

In brief: the DSP costs from $130,000 for one person, the CIIP fund $157,000 for a family of up to four with $50,000 returned after 5 years. Beyond the contribution, the only payment to the state is the FIU fee: $5,000 under the DSP and $8,000 under the fund, per application.

The DSP contribution grows with the family: $150,000 for a couple, $165,000 for a family of three, $180,000 for a family of four; the turnkey total with the FIU fee is $135,000, $155,000, $170,000 and $185,000. Under the CIIP fund the total is $165,000 for a family of up to four, with $50,000 returned after 5 years. A single applicant or a couple does better with the DSP, a family of three or more with the fund. The contribution is paid after Commission approval; before the decision only the FIU fee is paid.

The exact amount for your family is shown by the budget for your family, and every cost item is covered in how much Vanuatu citizenship costs for a family.

• Minimum copies. We transfer documents through secure channels, and only the staff handling the application have access.
• Storage by member and stage. Scans and correspondence are organised by family member and stage, with restricted access.
• No publications. We show client stories only anonymised and with consent.
• Visibility explained in advance. Before filing we explain where banks, borders and consulates will see the passport and which notifications are needed in the country of residence.

Support terms are shown on Vanuatu citizenship with BRIDGES, and stages and documents are collected in the guide to Vanuatu citizenship.

After receiving the passport: keeping documents and family information

In brief: after the passport is issued, privacy is maintained with simple habits: keep the certificate of citizenship separately from the passport, copies in secure storage, and the expiry dates of the whole family’s documents in one table.

The Vanuatu passport is biometric and valid for 10 years. The certificate of citizenship confirms the status when replacing the passport and at the bank, so it is not carried on trips together with the passport. If the passport is lost, report it immediately, and a new one is issued on the basis of the certificate. The procedure is described in loss and replacement of a Vanuatu passport.

Children born after citizenship is granted acquire it by descent without a contribution. The birth certificate with a translation is filed for registration, and no trip to the islands is needed. Information about the child passes through the same bodies as the family’s application, without publication.

Once a year the family checks a short list: passport expiry dates of all members, where the certificates are kept, whether each adult’s tax residence is still accurate, and which notifications have been made. That way privacy still works five years on, not just on the day the passports are received.

Common mistakes and checks before filing

In brief: privacy problems arise not from the programme but from expectations: the passport is confused with tax status, citizenship is hidden from the bank, the notification deadline is missed. These points are checked before filing.

1. Expecting a tax effect without relocating. The passport does not change residence, so the tax side is planned separately.
2. Hiding the second citizenship from the bank. A mismatch in the self-certification leads to the account being closed.
3. Missing a notification deadline. Where the home country requires notice (60 days in Russia, for example), the date goes into the calendar on the day the passport is received.
4. Different spellings of the name. If the Latin spelling in the Vanuatu passport and the other passport differ, banks and airlines see two different people, so the spelling is checked at the form stage.
5. An unproven source of funds. Funds without documents stop the FIU check, and a closed application will not help here.

Before filing, a lawyer checks the background, source of funds and documents of each member, as well as the family’s expectations of the second passport. Due diligence is covered in due diligence.