Vanuatu after the EU visa-free suspension: why demand did not fall

In brief: what the figures show

• Visa-free access to Schengen is fully closed: the visa regime has applied since 3 February 2025.
• The UK introduced visas earlier, on 19 July 2023.
• The passport gives visa-free entry to roughly 90-100 countries and territories.
• Programme revenue: 13.8 bn vatu in 2024 and about 11.2 bn in 2025.
• In terms of approvals, 2025 was stronger than 2024.
• Applicants’ motivation has shifted from travel to speed, taxes and a back-up document.

How Europe closed visa-free access

The decision was not sudden. The European Union worked towards it for three years and each time cited the same reason: the risks associated with the citizenship by investment programme. The Council decisions explicitly mention short review times and a refusal rate that Brussels considered too low.

For the market the second step matters most. From 4 February 2023 no Vanuatu citizen could travel to Schengen without a visa, and the December 2024 decision merely enshrined this in a regulation. So the data for 2023-2025 shows the behaviour of applicants who already knew that this passport did not include Schengen.

What this means for you. A promise of visa-free Europe with this passport is wrong today. If an agent makes it, they are working from materials three years out of date. A detailed review of the decision is in the article Vanuatu and Schengen.

What happened to demand

The main question I have been asked for a year and a half is whether applicants went away. Money gives the best answer, because the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu publishes programme revenue in its quarterly reviews regularly and without gaps.

State revenue from citizenship programmes according to Reserve Bank of Vanuatu reporting. The EU Council decision was taken in December 2024, that is, between the fourth and fifth bars. No collapse is visible after it: the 2025 figure is above 2022 and 2023 levels. The 2026 value covers only the first half and is marked with a dashed outline.

The peak came in 2024 at 13.8 bn vatu. In 2025 revenue fell to about 11.2 bn but remained above 2022 and 2023 levels. The decline is explained by the fee structure and the move to a biometric passport, not by people leaving: in terms of approvals, 2025 was stronger than 2024.

What this means for you. Applications are considered within the same timeframes, and the figures give no reason to expect the programme to close because of the EU decision.

Why demand held up

The answer lies in why this passport is actually taken. Visa-free Europe was rarely the main reason for choosing Vanuatu: for travel to Schengen there are programmes on the market that suit better. At meetings we hear five other reasons.

• Speed. Two to three months from filing to passport, faster than any alternative on the market.
• Taxes. Vanuatu has no tax on income, capital gains, inheritance or worldwide income.
• Remote processing. In person you only need to give biometrics; the oath is taken online.
• Dual citizenship. There is no need to renounce your original citizenship.
• Access to European residence. European programmes are obtained on the basis of this passport.

For those for whom visa-free travel to Schengen really is the main goal, we advise looking at other programmes at the first meeting. A comparison is in the article Vanuatu or the Caribbean.

How to count visa-free access now

The number of visa-free destinations is the most contentious point in the whole topic. Rankings count differently, and the spread reaches dozens of countries.

We count only full visa-free access and visa on arrival and get roughly 90-100 destinations. If you see a noticeably higher figure, it most likely includes electronic authorisations and dependent territories. A regional breakdown is in the articles on Asia and Africa and Oceania.

What changed in how the market works

The EU decision restructured not only demand but also how the programme is sold. Three observations from our practice.

• Promises became more specific. The phrase “visa-free Europe” has disappeared from honest presentations. Where it remains, the agent is working from outdated materials.
• The role of residence grew. The client needs not a passport as such but a solution. The conversation has shifted to what the passport gives: access to residence programmes, accounts, tax status.
• Checks became stricter. Vanuatu responded to criticism not by softening: a full Financial Intelligence Unit check before filing, a rising refusal rate, a biometric passport since November 2025.

I consider the end of visa-free travel a healthy correction for the market. Previously some clients took Vanuatu with Europe in mind and then discovered that the goal was not being met. Now this is spelled out at the first meeting: the passport gives speed, taxes and a back-up document, and Europe is handled through residence. The people who understand what they are buying have not gone anywhere.

Sergey EvdokimovManaging Partner, BRIDGES

How the European goal is achieved now

Here it is important to separate two concepts on which most wrong expectations are built. Visa-free entry is about travel. Residence is about the right to live and stay in a country. For most clients the real goal is the second, and it is achieved not by the Vanuatu passport directly but by residence programmes that can be applied for with this passport.

In practice the combination looks like this: a second passport in two to three months, then a European residence programme on its basis, above all the Greek property route. We covered this structure on the page residence programmes.

What this means for you. Plan Europe as a separate step. In this scheme the Vanuatu passport is the gateway and residence is the solution, and it is best to calculate the timeline for both at once.

How banks reacted

The second question after the EU news: will accounts now be refused? The link here is indirect. A bank assesses not the visa regime of the passport country but the client: tax residence, source of funds, the nature of transactions, sanctions risks. The Vanuatu passport remains a valid document of a sovereign state, biometric since November 2025 and valid for 10 years.

What has changed is that passports from investment programmes in general now attract more follow-up questions. This is handled through preparation: an explanation of why the second document was obtained and a full source-of-funds package. More in the article on a bank account with a Vanuatu passport.

If you already have the passport

• The passport is valid. The EU decision changed the visa regime, not the status of the document. Citizenship obtained before December 2024 is not affected.
• Schengen with a visa. The visa is obtained in the usual way for a Vanuatu citizen. The rules contain no refusal on the grounds of the passport country.
• Biometric passport. Since November 2025 a 10-year passport has been issued. Existing citizens replace the document and give biometrics.
• Accounts. Banks’ questions concern tax residence and source of funds, not the visa regime.

Visa-free destinations now

In total, roughly 90-100 destinations. The exact list changes, and we keep it separately: visa-free countries for the Vanuatu passport.

Who the programme suits after the visa-free suspension

The EU decision did not cancel the programme, but it changed who it should be recommended to.

The first four rows cover most of the requests people come to us with. The fifth row is the one that causes disappointment if it was not mentioned at the outset. We mention it in the very first sentence.

What an applicant should do now

• Check promises about Schengen. Visa-free Europe with this passport is a sign of outdated materials.
• Count visa-free access from a current list. It is now roughly 90-100 destinations.
• Plan the European goal separately. The passport is the gateway, residence is the solution.
• Do not wait for visa-free access to return. The decision was taken at the level of an EU regulation and relates to the very design of the programmes.

How we calculated

Programme revenue is taken from the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu’s quarterly economic reviews for 2022-2025. The dates of the EU decisions were checked against the texts of Council Decisions (EU) 2022/366 and 2022/2198 and Regulation (EU) 2025/11, and the date of the UK visa regime against the UK government notice. The comparison of approvals by year is based on data from the Commission on Vanuatu citizenship and our practice. The number of visa-free destinations is our estimate using the method in the section above.

Related reading: a review of the Vanuatu citizenship programme, 2026 in figures, forecast to 2028, who gets a Vanuatu passport.