The Rights and Obligations of a Citizen of Vanuatu

In short: the essentials on rights and obligations

Vanuatu citizenship is a permanent status: it gives you a passport and the right to live and work in the country, passes to your children by right of blood and requires neither relocation nor renunciation of your first citizenship. The obligations are few: observe the country's laws, renew the passport as a document in good time and — for Russian citizens — notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the second citizenship within 60 days.

This article continues our guide to the programme: how the application itself works is covered in Vanuatu citizenship by investment. Here we deal with what follows the oath: how the status differs from the document, what rights arise for you and your family and what the law requires in return.

Status and document: why citizenship is permanent and the passport is not

The first thing to separate is citizenship and the passport. Citizenship is the legal bond between a person and the state, established by the Citizenship Act of Vanuatu (Cap 112) of 1980. It is permanent: the status does not need renewing, confirming or "earning" through visits to the country. Once you obtain citizenship under the Development Support Program, you remain a citizen for life unless you give it up yourself or provide grounds for revocation — both scenarios are covered below.

The passport, by contrast, is a physical document with an expiry date. An adult's Vanuatu passport is valid for ten years, a child's (under 18) for five. When it expires only the booklet changes; citizenship stays exactly where it was. The published fee for an ordinary passport is VT 5,000 per person. The whole renewal process is set out in do Vanuatu citizenship and passports need renewing.

The right to travel: what the passport actually gives

A citizen's main practical right is to use the Vanuatu passport for international travel. The document opens visa-free or simplified entry to dozens of countries; the full and accurate list with conditions for each destination is kept in a separate article, visa-free countries for the Vanuatu passport.

It is only fair to state the main limitation plainly here: visa-free travel to the European Union does not apply to Vanuatu passports. It was suspended from 2022 and revoked definitively by the EU Council decision of 12 December 2024. A citizen of Vanuatu keeps the right to travel to Schengen — but on a visa, like citizens of most countries in the world. Why that happened and what it means in practice is covered in Vanuatu and Schengen.

What this right does not change is equally important: a second passport does not replace the first. You may choose which document to travel on where the laws of the countries of entry and exit allow it; how that works in real life is set out in how to travel on a Vanuatu passport.

The right to live, work and do business in Vanuatu

A citizen of Vanuatu may enter the country at any time, live there without any limit on duration, work and run a business — by definition no visa, work permit or residence permit is needed. For most programme participants this right stays dormant: people obtain the status for mobility and as a plan B, not to move to the islands. But the right does not lapse — if circumstances change, the door is always open.

What really awaits someone who decides to use it — climate, prices, housing, banks, connectivity — is covered in life and relocation in Vanuatu, and the country itself, its geography and institutions, in what kind of country it is and where it lies.

The right to pass citizenship to your children

Vanuatu citizenship rests on the right of blood (jus sanguinis): the child of a citizen becomes a citizen regardless of the place of birth. This is set out in article 11 of the Constitution of Vanuatu. For families it is one of the most valuable rights the status carries: the passport works not as a one-off purchase but as an asset that passes to the next generations.

The mechanics depend on when the child is born. Children born after the parent becomes a citizen acquire the status by descent, with no second contribution — only the state fees for the documents are paid. Children born before are included in the original application as dependants. Every branch of the question, including adult children and grandchildren, is covered in does Vanuatu citizenship pass to children and by inheritance.

The right to keep your first citizenship

Since 2013, when the relevant amendment was made to the Constitution of Vanuatu, the country has expressly recognised dual citizenship. A citizen of Vanuatu may therefore hold any other passports: there is no need to renounce a previous citizenship and no certificate of loss is requested. You add a second citizenship rather than exchanging one for the other.

From Russia's side the picture is the mirror image: Russian law does not prohibit a second passport. But a Russian citizen acquires a separate administrative obligation, covered in detail below. The full legal analysis of holding the two passports together is in dual citizenship: Russia and Vanuatu.

Tax: what a citizen owes and does not owe

Vanuatu citizenship on its own creates no tax obligations. The country has no income tax, no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax — and, importantly, no tax "on the passport": holding the status costs nothing. A citizen living outside Vanuatu owes nothing to the Vanuatu treasury.

Tax obligations are determined not by citizenship but by tax residence — the country where you actually live. A Russian citizen with a Vanuatu passport who lives in Russia pays tax in Russia under Russian rules; moving to benefit from zero rates is a separate decision with its own conditions. How the country's tax system works and what the zero regime gives in practice is covered in taxes in Vanuatu. Russian citizens' obligations on controlled foreign companies, currency control and automatic exchange are covered separately in CFCs, currency control and automatic exchange.

Obligations to Vanuatu: a short list

A citizen's list of obligations to Vanuatu itself is short — a deliberate feature of a programme designed for international applicants:

Observe the country's laws. Like any citizen of any state, you are subject to the law of Vanuatu, above all when you are on its territory.

Keep your documents in order. Renew the passport when it expires (ten years for adults, five for children), arrange documents for your children and report a loss. Published state fees apply to documents: an ordinary passport costs VT 5,000, and registration of a new citizen under the DSP costs VT 100,000.

Answer the state's enquiries truthfully. Information provided during the application must be accurate, and that obligation does not end when the passport is issued: deception discovered after the fact becomes a ground for reviewing the status.

What the list does not contain: mandatory residence, regular visits, military service for programme participants, annual contributions or taxes on the status. The programme sets no requirement to know the country's language or history, either at application or afterwards.

A Russian citizen's obligation: notify the Ministry within 60 days

A Russian citizen who obtains a Vanuatu passport acquires one obligation — owed not to Vanuatu but to Russia: to notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the acquisition of a second citizenship. It is an administrative obligation, not a prohibition; the lawfulness of holding the second passport does not depend on it.

The deadline is 60 days from the day citizenship is acquired. If you are outside Russia at that moment, the period runs from the day you enter the country. While you live permanently abroad the obligation is not triggered — but it is deferred, not extinguished.

The second principle worth understanding: on Russian territory a person with two passports is treated solely as a Russian citizen. The Vanuatu passport widens your options outside Russia but does not change your status inside it. The step-by-step notification process, the form, common mistakes and the liability for staying silent are covered in detail in dual citizenship: Russia and Vanuatu.

What citizenship does not require: dispelling the concerns

Investment citizenship attracts many fears of the "what if they force me later" kind. For Vanuatu the picture is clear:

The one thing the programme always requires is honesty at the outset: accurate documents and a transparent source of funds. How the state checks this is covered in due diligence for Vanuatu citizenship.

On what grounds citizenship can be revoked

A permanent status is not an untouchable one. The law of Vanuatu, like that of any investment jurisdiction, allows a grant of citizenship to be reviewed if it emerges that it was obtained by deception: forged documents, false information about identity, concealed convictions or a fictitious source of funds. In such cases the decision is taken by the same state body that granted the status.

For a bona fide applicant this rule works in their favour: it is precisely the strict check at entry that protects the reputation of the passport you will be using. The common reasons for refusal and the lessons from them are covered in seven reasons for refusal of Vanuatu citizenship. The practical conclusion is simple: the only reliable way never to face revocation is to file a truthful application through a licensed agent, as the programme requires.

The right to give up citizenship

Vanuatu citizenship is a voluntary status, and the law provides for the right to relinquish it. An adult citizen with full legal capacity files a formal declaration of renunciation under oath, after which the passport is surrendered to the Vanuatu Citizenship Office. The one strict condition is that you cannot become stateless: renunciation is possible only if you hold another passport.

In practice the request is rare: since Vanuatu does not object to two passports, formal renunciation is needed mainly by people naturalising in countries that prohibit multiple citizenship. The full account of the process, and of cases where renunciation is not actually needed, is in how to renounce Vanuatu citizenship.

The rights and obligations of family members

The status goes not only to the principal applicant: rights and obligations are distributed across the whole family, and each role has its own mechanics.

Spouse. A spouse included in the application becomes a full citizen: their own passport and the same rights to travel, to work in Vanuatu and to pass the status to children. Their citizenship does not depend on what later happens to the marriage — divorce does not undo a status already granted.

Dependent children. Children included in the original application receive full citizenship, not a "junior" version of it. The only difference is a five-year passport instead of ten, and the need to update the document more often: that is the parents' practical responsibility until the children come of age.

Parents and adult dependants. They have the same rights as the principal applicant; their one obligation, like everyone's, is to keep their documents current.

The parents' obligation. Registering children born after naturalisation is the family's responsibility: the state will not issue citizenship to a newborn automatically, and documents must be filed for registration by right of blood. It is best not to delay: the fresher the set — the birth certificate and proof of the parent's status — the simpler the process. Full family scenarios are covered in citizenship for the whole family and does citizenship pass to children.

How the status lives over time: 5, 10 and 20 years on

Vanuatu citizenship is a long-term asset, and it helps to know which events lie ahead for the family over the years.

After five years the children's passports expire — the first scheduled contact with the Citizenship Office after the application. The exchange is handled remotely, and the children's status is not reviewed.

After ten years the adult passports expire. By then it is worth checking whether the spelling of your name has changed in your other documents: a passport exchange is a convenient moment to align the spelling, as we set out in detail in your name in a Vanuatu passport.

The children grow up. An adult child remains a citizen without taking any action; only the term of their passport changes, with the document issued for ten years from age 18.

Grandchildren arrive. The right of blood continues to operate: grandchildren are entitled to citizenship by descent if a parent or grandparent held the status when they were born. A passport obtained once thus becomes a family asset across generations — with no further contributions, only the paperwork.

At none of these horizons do new obligations arise beyond those described: the status does not age, there are no fees for holding it, and all contact with the state comes down to the scheduled renewal of documents.

How the rights work in life: three scenarios

Scenario 1. A trip. You fly on business to a country where the Vanuatu passport gives simplified entry. No notifications or permits are needed: you use the document like any citizen and simply present it at the border. The only rule is to enter and leave Russia on your Russian passport, since the second document has no effect inside the country.

Scenario 2. A child is born. A child is born into the family of a citizen of Vanuatu. The child is entitled to citizenship by descent automatically; what remains is to obtain the birth certificate, confirm the parent's status on the date of birth and get a child's passport. No programme contribution is paid for such a child, only the document fees.

Scenario 3. The passport has expired. After ten years the booklet runs out. The status is untouched: you file for an exchange at the published fee of VT 5,000 and receive a new passport. You do not need to be in Vanuatu for this — the exchange is handled remotely through authorised representatives.

The same principle runs through all three scenarios: the rights work without your constant involvement, and the obligations come down to keeping your documents in order.

Your name in the documents: a small right with large consequences

A separate practical question is the spelling of your name. A citizen is entitled to expect that their name in Vanuatu documents will match the spelling in their other passports, but transliteration from Cyrillic produces variants, and a discrepancy of even one letter complicates life: a bank sees "two different people" in the two passports, and an airline raises questions about the ticket.

That is why, during the application, we fix the spelling according to your current travel passport and check every letter before filing — this is the responsibility of the applicant and the agent, not of the state. What to do if a discrepancy has already occurred, and how it is corrected, is covered in a separate article, your name in a Vanuatu passport.

How BRIDGES supports the status after the passport

We carry a client's matter not only until the passport is issued but across the whole life of the status: exchanging documents when they expire, registering children born after naturalisation, notifications under Russian law, and the apostille and legalisation of Vanuatu documents for use in other countries. If you are still choosing a programme, start with a calculation: the family composition determines both the contribution and the set of future obligations. You can request a cost calculation on the Vanuatu citizenship programme page, and everything done after the passport is gathered in the section on services for citizens of Vanuatu.