How to tell the Vanuatu citizenship programme from a grey scheme

Vanuatu citizenship fraud: in brief

In brief: a lawful application is filed by a designated agent, and the list of agents is published by the Citizenship Office at vancitizenship.gov.vu. The certificate of citizenship is issued by the Citizenship Commission, and the ordinary passport by the Immigration and Passport Services. An offer with no agent from the list, no FIU check and no official details has nothing to do with the programme.

Under the DSP the $5,000 FIU fee is paid on filing, and the $130,000 contribution after Commission approval on an invoice for the application. Under the CIIP fund the FIU fee is $8,000, the $157,000 contribution for a family of up to four is also paid after approval, and $50,000 is returned after 5 years. For one applicant the DSP costs $135,000 turnkey and the CIIP fund $165,000.

From filing to approval takes 2-3 months. This time is made up of the FIU check and the Commission’s sitting schedule, so only document preparation can lawfully be shortened, not the review itself. All the steps of a lawful application are covered in how to get Vanuatu citizenship step by step.

Who grants Vanuatu citizenship and issues the passport

In brief: citizenship is confirmed by a certificate approved and issued by the Citizenship Commission. The ordinary green passport is issued by the Immigration and Passport Services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the diplomatic passport by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Citizenship Office and the Commission confirmed this division in a 2025 statement, after reports of Vanuatu diplomatic passports being advertised abroad. The statement says the Commission is responsible for reviewing applications and issuing certificates, while questions about other types of passport go to the relevant ministries. The office urged people to rely only on official sources.

Each step of a lawful application leaves a document: the FIU fee invoice, the Commission’s decision letter, the contribution invoice, the certificate, the passport. If a seller cannot show a single one of these documents but promises a passport straight away, no application has gone through government bodies. The Commission’s powers and the grounds for its decisions are described in the citizenship law and the Citizenship Commission.

Six fraud schemes around the Vanuatu passport

In brief: schemes are built on a promise of a shorter time, a lower price or no check. All six are recognisable from the first messages: a timeline in days, a price below the contribution, personal payment details, diplomatic status, a programme with an unfamiliar name, an intermediary without an agent.

1. A passport in a few days. The FIU check takes up to 7 working days, and the Commission reviews applications at sittings twice a month. A document in a week can only be a forgery.
2. A price below the contribution. The DSP contribution for one applicant is $130,000 under the fee schedule, and the state gives no discounts on it. A noticeably lower sum is bait for prepayment.
3. Payment to a personal card or crypto wallet. The FIU fee and the contribution are paid on an invoice for a specific application. Paying a government charge to an individual is not provided for by the programme.
4. A diplomatic passport for money. Diplomatic passports are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under its own rules. Citizenship by investment programmes do not give such a document.
5. A programme with an invented name. The Citizenship Office website lists the types of citizenship: naturalisation after 10 years of residence, citizenship by marriage, the DSP, the CIIP fund, the VCP and REO. There is no “humanitarian passport” or “naturalisation in a month” on it.
6. An intermediary without a designated agent. A consultant may support a client, but the application is filed by a designated agent, whose name is given before the agreement is signed.

Schemes are often combined: a low price goes together with a short timeline and payment to a card. One sign is already a reason to stop the deal and check the offer; two or more mean it has nothing to do with the programme.

Lawful grounds without a contribution also exist, but they require living in the country: citizenship through residence is granted after 10 years of continuous residence, and Vanuatu citizenship by marriage after a lawful marriage and at least 2 years of living in Vanuatu. An offer to obtain such a status “in a month” without relocating belongs to the same schemes.

Fake websites and emails on behalf of government bodies

In brief: the Citizenship Office website carries a warning about fake websites posing as official ones. Official Government of Vanuatu websites end in .gov.vu, and the address is checked before following a link from an email.

A fake site copies the coat of arms, section names and even the list of agents, but changes the contacts and bank details. An email “from the Commission” with new bank details for the contribution is verified with the agent by phone from the official list, not by the contacts in the email itself.

A website is checked again if you see at least one of these signs:

• the domain does not end in .gov.vu or differs by one letter from the official one;
• the site offers to pay the contribution by card without an invoice for the application;
• an “application status check” asks you to upload a passport scan;
• a “government officer” writes on a messenger and rushes you to pay;
• the invoice amount does not match the programme’s fee schedule.

Before paying, check three things: the website domain, the payee on the invoice and the amount. The payee must match the one the agent named in the agreement, and the amount must match the published tariffs.

Red flags at each stage of the deal

In brief: a grey scheme is easier to catch stage by stage: first contact, budget, agreement, payment, documents, decision, issue. A red flag at any stage means a pause and a check before the next step.

• First contact. Pressure on timing, “last places”, a promise of visa-free Schengen.
• Budget. One sum with no items or payees.
• Agreement. No legal entity and no name of the designated agent.
• Payment. A personal card, a crypto wallet, a transfer “to an acquaintance”.
• Documents. “We will fix the certificate”, “your background does not matter”.
• Decision. “Approval guaranteed” before the FIU check.
• Issue. A passport with no approval letter, oath or certificate.

A common first-contact tactic concerns Europe. Since 3 February 2025 Vanuatu has been on the EU visa list, and a Vanuatu citizen obtains a Schengen visa. To live in Europe, families use Vanuatu citizenship as a step to residence in Greece or Hungary. A seller who promises visa-free Schengen on a Vanuatu passport is giving verifiably false information. Details in the Vanuatu passport and Schengen.

Nobody guarantees approval before the check: the Commission decides, and it may approve, defer or reject the application. A preliminary check before filing shows the risks but does not replace the Commission’s decision. A promise of “100% approval” belongs to the same signs as a passport in a week.

How to check an agent

In brief: the agent’s name is looked up in the Designated Agents section at vancitizenship.gov.vu, and you check that it is not in the Cancelled Agents section. For the DSP the site lists 6 agents concluding a new contract with the Citizenship Office for 2026.

1. Name. Take the agent’s exact legal name from the agreement.
2. List. Find it in the Designated Agents section at vancitizenship.gov.vu.
3. Revoked. Make sure the agent is not in the Cancelled Agents section.
4. Contacts. Check the phone and address against those published on the site.
5. Confirmation. Call the agent on the published number and name the consultant.

The name in the agreement and the name on the list must match exactly, including the legal form. A similar brand or a site with the same logo does not replace the legal name. CIIP fund applications are accepted through Vanuatu Registry Services in Hong Kong, and the agent’s participation in the fund is confirmed by its documents.

A consultant working with a designated agent names it before the agreement and does not object to a check. A refusal to name the agent or a request “not to call them directly” is a red flag in itself. Selection criteria are covered in Vanuatu citizenship agent.

Whom to pay and when in the lawful programme

In brief: before the Commission’s decision, the only payment to the state is the FIU fee: $5,000 under the DSP and $8,000 under the CIIP fund. The contribution is paid only after the approval letter: $130,000 for one applicant under the DSP, or $157,000 into the CIIP fund for a family of up to four.

A demand to transfer the contribution before the Commission’s decision contradicts the procedure of both programmes. The DSP contribution goes on an invoice for the application, the CIIP fund contribution to the fund’s account, and neither is transferred to an intermediary. Each payment goes on a separate invoice naming the payee, and the payment order is kept until the passport is issued.

The payment is sent from the applicant’s account. A transfer from someone else’s account does not prove the origin of funds and raises questions in the check. Budget items and payees are covered in how Vanuatu citizenship is paid for, and the total by family size in how much Vanuatu citizenship costs for a family.

Real processing times instead of “a passport in a week”

In brief: from the agreement to approval takes 2-3 months. The preliminary check takes 1-2 working days, collecting documents several weeks, the FIU check up to 7 working days, and then the Commission reviews the application at one of its sittings, held twice a month.

After approval the applicant has 3 months for the contribution and the oath. If the deadline is at risk, a written request for a 2-month extension is sent before it expires. The passport is arranged after the certificate is received.

A promise to cut the time to a week means the document does not go through the Commission. Only preparation can lawfully be sped up: collect documents in full and answer check requests within 1-3 working days. Stages week by week are in Vanuatu citizenship timelines.

What to check in the agreement before signing

In brief: the agreement must contain a verifiable legal entity, the name of the designated agent, a list of services by stage, an itemised budget with payees and refund terms on refusal. Without these points you cannot check where the money goes.

• Parties. A legal entity with a registration number, address and a signatory with authority.
• Agent. The legal name of the designated agent through which the application is filed.
• Services. What each stage includes: check, documents, filing, replies to requests, oath, passport.
• Budget. Each government payment on a separate line with the amount, payee and moment of payment.
• Refunds. What is refunded on refusal and what is not, within what time and to which account.
• Timelines. Deadlines for preparation and for replies to requests on both sides.
• Documents. Who keeps the originals and how they are returned to the client.

An agreement without the agent’s name and without an itemised budget should not be signed, even if the price and timeline look attractive. For a consultant who works with the programme, it is normal practice to show the agreement in advance and give time to check it.

What a grey passport risks for the buyer

In brief: the Vanuatu Passports Act makes offences of forging a document, false information in an application, using someone else’s or a cancelled passport, and selling a passport. The penalty: imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to VT 5,000,000 or both.

The Commission may revoke citizenship if it was granted by deception, in breach of the Citizenship Act or the Constitution, or if the citizen does not observe the restrictions of the law. Where deception is established, citizenship ends after 30 days. The Citizenship Office reports revoking about 30 citizenships granted in breach of procedure.

The Vanuatu passport is biometric and valid for 10 years, and its data are read automatically at the border. A forged or cancelled document is detected at border crossings, in bank client checks and on visa applications. Money paid to the seller is hard to recover, because the payment went to private details. What lawful citizenship looks like on paper is covered in legitimacy of Vanuatu citizenship.

If money has already been sent

In brief: act in the first days: stop payments, keep the correspondence and payment documents, contact your bank and the police where you live, and ask the designated agent to confirm whether an application has been filed.

1. Stop payments. Do not transfer a “speed-up surcharge”, an “issue tax” or an “unblocking fee”.
2. Keep evidence. Correspondence, the agreement, invoices, payment orders, website addresses and phone numbers.
3. Contact your bank. For a card payment, ask about disputing the transaction; for a transfer, about recalling the payment.
4. File a police report in your country of residence and attach the documents collected.
5. Check the application. Contact an agent from the official list by the published phone number and ask whether an application has been filed in your name.
6. Do not send new documents. Scans of passports and certificates are used for further schemes.

After a first loss, a second offer often follows: to “recover the money” for a separate fee. Such services should not be paid for, because they are offered by the same sellers or people linked to them.

Checklist before the first payment

In brief: ten questions are closed before transferring any amount. A “no” or “not sure” to even one question means a pause and a check.

• The agent in the agreement is in the Designated Agents section and not in Cancelled Agents.
• The agent’s contacts match those published at vancitizenship.gov.vu.
• The consultant has a legal entity with a registration number and address.
• The budget is itemised, and each item has a payee.
• The DSP and CIIP fund contributions are placed in the budget after approval, not on filing.
• The details for government payments are on an invoice, not in a message.
• The main applicant goes through the FIU check.
• The time to approval is 2-3 months, not days.
• Nobody offers a diplomatic passport or visa-free Schengen.
• Refund terms on refusal are written into the agreement.

The same approach works for other Pacific and Caribbean programmes: a comparison of conditions is in Vanuatu or Nauru, and general conditions in the overview of Vanuatu citizenship by investment. The family composition is checked against the programme conditions before the agreement; details in who can be included in the application.

Where to check the facts yourself

In brief: the key facts about the programme are checked on two official websites: vancitizenship.gov.vu for citizenship and agents, and fiu.gov.vu for the Financial Intelligence Unit. Information on the EU visa regime is published by the Council of the EU.

• Citizenship Office. Types of citizenship, the filing procedure, the fee schedule, lists of designated and revoked agents, programme news.
• The Passport Act Offences section. The list of offences under the Passports Act and the penalties.
• FIU. The unit that checks applicants. The mere fact of a mandatory check refutes promises of “no check”.
• EU decisions. EU Regulation 2025/11 moved Vanuatu to the visa list from 3 February 2025.

A document or receipt sent by email is verified through an official channel, not via a link in the same email. The source-of-funds and background check is described in checking a Vanuatu citizenship applicant.

How BRIDGES protects against fraud

In brief: BRIDGES runs a preliminary check in 1-2 working days, names the designated agent before the agreement and provides an itemised budget with payees. The client transfers government payments on invoices for the application to official details.

Before filing we check all members of the application; after filing we answer requests and take the client through to the oath, certificate and passport. If a client has already received an offer from someone else, we check the agent, budget and payment details against official sources and report which points do not match the programme.

If the family’s goal includes living in Europe, the Vanuatu passport is obtained as the first step, followed by Greek residence: the whole turnkey package takes up to 9 months. Conditions and the way we work are collected on Vanuatu citizenship with BRIDGES, and timelines, amounts and documents in one file in the guide to conditions and cost.