Why I advise against waiting with Vanuatu

I will tell you what I really think about waiting, why I have started to speak about it plainly, and in which cases waiting really is the right thing. Because such cases exist, and I will talk about them too.

What I think, in short

In this industry waiting is almost never free. People think they are postponing a decision. In fact they are making a decision: to pay more and go through stricter checks. It just does not look like a decision, because there is nothing to sign.

In ten years I have not seen a single year when the terms for Vanuatu became softer. Not one. The contribution grew, fees were added, checks were tightened. Every time a client came back a year later, the conversation began with “it used to be cheaper”. Yes, it did.

First: I show two numbers

When I am asked whether the programme will be closed, I have stopped arguing and started showing figures. I take a sheet of paper and write two numbers.

The first: one hundred and fifteen million dollars. That is what the programme brought Vanuatu’s budget in 2024, according to official data from the country’s Reserve Bank. The second: eighty-two million vatu. That is what the 2026 budget sets aside for the entire Citizenship Commission, that is, for the people who run this programme.

Then the person usually does the maths themselves. Running the programme costs less than one per cent of what it brings in. No state gives up a source of this scale because someone outside is unhappy. Especially a state with a population of three hundred thousand that rebuilds after cyclones every few years.

I set out this arithmetic in detail in a separate review: what the programme means for Vanuatu’s budget. If this topic matters to you, look at the figures yourself; they are public.

Second: the price has never gone down

This is what I advise everyone thinking of waiting to look at: the history of the programme’s entry price.

More than half as much again in ten years. And not a single step back. I do not know what scenario would lead a country with such revenue to suddenly decide to charge less.

Calculating the cost of waiting is simple. At this rate a year costs roughly five to ten per cent of the application budget. For a family that is ten to fifteen thousand dollars. Exactly the sum a person was saving by choosing between agents.

Today’s price can be fixed with an official invoice. Fix the budget

Third: it gets stricter faster than it gets pricier

Everyone understands rising prices. Almost nobody understands rising strictness, and that is more important.

In 2021 Vanuatu rejected four applications out of just over a thousand. In 2023, twenty-two. A fivefold increase in two years. And refusals are given not for someone’s background but because the source of funds is only half proven.

I explain it like this. You used to be able to come with a bank statement and say: here, the money exists. Now they ask how it got there, along the whole chain, with contracts and taxes. In a year, I am sure, they will ask in more depth.

And this is where waiting hurts most. A case that can be assembled in a month today may in a year require documents that are no longer within reach: the company has been sold, the partner has left, the bank has closed. I have seen such situations more than once. The trend in refusals is reviewed separately in Vanuatu citizenship refusals.

When I myself say wait

Now for the other side, otherwise this would be propaganda, and I do not like that.

If the goal has not been defined. A person says: I want a second passport, just in case. I ask: for what exactly? Silence. In that situation I ask them to think, because a passport is a tool for a task, not a purchase in itself. Bought without a purpose, it then sits in a drawer and irritates.

If the source of funds cannot be proven right now. Sometimes the documents are objectively in progress: a transaction has not closed, taxes have not been filed, money is in motion. Then it is better to wait three months and file with a full package than to file now and get a query, followed by a refusal. A refusal is recorded, and the next application form will ask about it.

If you are waiting for a specific event. The sale of a business, a divorce, receiving an inheritance. Here waiting makes sense: the very composition of the application changes.

In all three cases I say wait and explain why. The difference is that this is waiting with a date and a reason, not “let us see how it goes”.

A separate word on Europe

The most common conversation of the past year and a half. A person comes and asks whether it is true that Vanuatu is now useless because the European Union has removed visa-free access.

My answer is this. If your goal is to fly to Europe without a visa, this passport does not achieve it, and I will tell you so at the first meeting, not after payment. But if the goal is to be in Europe rather than fly over it, it is achieved through residence. And here the Vanuatu passport works as a gateway: the Greek property programme is obtained on its basis, and there are Hungarian options. We have taken clients along this route more than once.

So: a fast passport in two to three months, and then European status on its basis. The scheme works, and it has become the main scenario. More on what changed after the EU decision is in our review with figures: Vanuatu after the visa-free suspension.

Three mistakes I have seen for twenty years

The first: applying alone and leaving the family for later. The logic is understandable: first let us see how it goes. In money terms it is the worst possible decision. A spouse in a joint application adds twenty thousand to the contribution, and each of the first two children fifteen thousand. A separate application a year later is a different sum and a whole new check. The family economics are reviewed in the article on how much Vanuatu earns from one passport.

The second: choosing between agents by price. The government part of the payment is the same for everyone; it goes to the treasury account. Savings can come only from the work on preparing the application. In other words, the person saves on the one thing that affects the result.

The third: collecting documents after filing, not before. This is behind ninety per cent of drawn-out timelines. The review itself takes two to three months and does not depend on us. But preparation depends entirely on us, and it can take anything from two weeks to six months.

How our first meeting goes

I will describe it so that you understand what the conversation will be about if you decide to come.

The first thing I ask is not about money. I ask what you want this passport to solve. The answers vary: a deal in two months, a child going to study abroad, being tired of depending on one document, wanting a gateway to Europe. The answer determines which programme is discussed at all, and whether one is discussed in principle. Sometimes after this question we conclude that you do not need Vanuatu, and I say so.

The second is the source of funds. Not the amount but the origin. I ask you to tell me in your own words where the money comes from, and along the way I note the points where a checker will ask a question. There are usually two or three such points, and they are almost always closed by documents the person already has; they just did not think they needed to show them.

The third is the family composition. Here I always insist: include everyone you are planning to at once. Not because a larger application is more profitable for me, but because in a year it will cost many times more and the checks will start again.

And only after these three questions do we talk about timing and budget. Before that there is no point: figures without a goal mean nothing.

What I say about reputation

Another question asked almost every time: will there be problems with this passport, is it frowned upon?

I answer with data, not assurances. Half the applicants are Chinese citizens, and the second largest country is Russia. This is not a marginal sample; these are people who need a working second document. Since November 2025 the passport has been biometric, valid for ten years. Checks have become thorough, and there are five times as many refusals.

My personal opinion: the tightening is the best thing that has happened to the programme. While one in five hundred was refused, the questions were justified. Now that the checks are real, the document is worth more in substance. We have a separate review of the applicant mix: who gets a Vanuatu passport.

Vanuatu cost calculator →

What I advise

If the need for a second passport is there in principle, meet it on today’s terms. Not because it will be closed tomorrow, but because tomorrow it will be more expensive and stricter. This is not pressure; it is ten years of observation.

If the goal has not been defined, do not buy. Define it first; I will help with this free of charge and without obligation. I do not need clients who, a year later, do not understand why they have this document.

And one last thing. I do not believe the talk that the programme is about to be closed. But I know for certain that the entry price goes up every two to three years. In ten years it is the only pattern that has never been broken.

Programme forecast to 2028 →How to obtain citizenship →

What to ask anyone selling this to you

Finally, here are five questions I advise asking not only us but everyone you talk to about a second passport. The answers will tell you more about a partner than a presentation.

• Show me the estimate for my family, split into official payments and everything else. If they refuse to split it, you will not be able to compare the offer with another.
• Which account the government part goes to. The right answer: the treasury account, against the authority’s official invoice.
• What happens to the money if refused. The right answer takes into account that the main contribution is paid after approval.
• Which points in my background will raise questions. If there are “none”, nobody has looked at the application.
• Give me the timeline and what exactly could shift it. A timeline without a list of risks is a promise, not a plan.

We answer these five questions at the first meeting, before any payment. And I believe that is how anyone taking on this task should work.

How we calculated

Programme revenue is based on Reserve Bank of Vanuatu reporting for 2024, and the Citizenship Commission’s costs on Vanuatu’s 2026 budget. Refusals for 2021-2023 are from the Citizenship Commission’s annual reports. The history of the contribution is based on the programme conditions in force at the time, and the tariffs for family members on the DSP programme conditions. The cost of a year of waiting is our calculation based on the historical trend in the entry price.