A Vanuatu passport takes one in-person meeting, and it can take place in Moscow

In brief

• Since 1 July 2025 every person in the application gives biometrics in person, children included.
• Personal presence is needed once: at the biometrics. In Moscow the oath is taken at the same meeting. Documents, signatures and filing involve no travel.
• Biometrics come at the end of the process: after the application is approved and the contribution is paid, before the passport is issued.
• BRIDGES clients give them in Moscow and St Petersburg. Centres in Port Vila, Dubai, Hong Kong and Nouméa also operate.
• In any other city an officer of the Vanuatu Immigration Service comes to the client's home, even for one person.
• Finished passports are printed in Port Vila and delivered by courier. The passport is valid for 10 years.

How the programme stopped being fully remote

As recently as early 2025 Vanuatu citizenship could be obtained without ever meeting a representative of the state. Documents were collected and filed through an agent, and the passport arrived by courier. Speed and convenience were the programme's main selling points, and they also became the main target of criticism.

When the EU ended visa-free travel in 2022-2025, it pointed directly to the risks of applicant screening: short processing times and a very low refusal rate. According to data the EU cited in 2022, by March 2021 Vanuatu had issued more than 10,500 passports under its investment programmes. The question was simple: who is behind each of them?

Vanuatu responded with a series of changes. The main one is in-person biometrics.

• 22 May 2025. The government announces mandatory in-person biometrics.
• 1 July 2025. The requirement takes effect for everyone in the application.
• Autumn 2025. A biometric centre opens in Hong Kong.
• November 2025. Vanuatu issues biometric passports valid for 10 years.
• 6 February 2026. The Council of Ministers considers the commission of inquiry report on the citizenship programmes.

The logic of the rule is clear. In-person biometrics tie the passport to a specific person whom a state officer has seen. A front person, someone else's passport, a double identity: all of this is cut off the moment a person places their fingers on the scanner.

What this means for you. If you are promised a Vanuatu passport fully remotely, without a single in-person meeting, the material predates July 2025 or is simply wrong.

What the rule gives the applicant

For the applicant the rule has two sides, and both are worth naming.

The first is obvious: the process is no longer fully remote. At some point you have to be in front of an officer with a scanner, and if the family has four people, all four will be.

The second side matters more, though it is mentioned less often. The passport has become stronger as a document. A biometric passport with data captured by a state officer raises fewer questions at the border, at the bank and at the visa centre. In any discussion of the reputation of the Vanuatu passport this is one of the weightiest arguments: the state knows to whom it issued the document and can confirm it.

There is also a third, practical side. Biometrics come at the very end of the process, when the citizenship decision has already been taken. Until then nobody makes you travel, take leave or bring the children.

What this means for you. The inconvenience comes down to one meeting, and the document you receive has become stronger.

When biometrics are needed

Biometrics come at the end of the process, not the beginning. Before them you complete every step remotely.

Biometric appointments open only after the application is approved and the contribution is received. The Immigration Service confirms the date and place by letter. The capture itself takes 30-60 minutes per person: fingerprints, a photograph, a signature. Bring the valid passport on which the application was filed.

What this means for you. The biometrics date can be planned in advance, but it is set in the last weeks of the process. It is easy to fit holidays, business trips and the children's school schedule around that day.

Where biometrics can be given

There are few centres, and the choice of place determines how many people have to travel and for how many days.

based on BRIDGES data and the Vanuatu Immigration Service. The cost depends on the place and the number of people; we state it in the estimate before the contract.

Moscow and St Petersburg. In Moscow biometrics and the oath take place at one meeting, so the personal stage is completed in a day. For families living in Russia this removes the main difficulty. Children do not have to be taken abroad, elderly parents do not need a flight, and the date does not have to fit around visas and tickets.

Dubai. Convenient for those who already live in the UAE or visit often. Russian citizens do not need a UAE visa, so the trip can be combined with other business.

Hong Kong and Nouméa. For those living in Asia and Oceania. For residents of Russia these are long flights with connections.

Port Vila. The most distant option. People choose it when they want to see the country of their second citizenship, which is a perfectly good choice but not a required one.

What this means for you. For a family from Moscow or St Petersburg, the whole Vanuatu citizenship programme is completed without leaving Russia.

An officer visit to your home

If no centre suits, we arrange an individual visit: an authorised officer of the Vanuatu Immigration Service comes to the client's home, in any city. There is no need to gather a group; the officer will come for a single applicant.

For VIP clients this is a separate format. We bring the officer wherever suits you: your home, office or hotel. Only your family is present during the biometrics. No other applicants, no queue, no strangers.

A visit is most often needed in three situations. The family includes an elderly or less mobile parent for whom a flight is hard. The family lives in a country with no centre and the nearest one is awkward to reach. Or the head of the family cannot set aside several days for a trip.

Biometrics are taken specifically by an authorised officer of the Vanuatu Immigration Service, not by a visa centre or a representative of another country. The officer brings the equipment, and the data is sent to Port Vila in the same way as from a fixed centre. For the document it makes no difference where the fingerprints were taken: in Port Vila or in your living room.

The terms of the visit are agreed for the specific application: city, address, date, number of people. We state the cost of the visit in the estimate before the contract.

What this means for you. An officer visit is a real option, not a legend. You give your biometrics without leaving home, with only your family in the room.

How to plan biometrics for a family

Each person gives biometrics separately. A family of four goes through it four times, but on one day and in one place.

Five things to check in advance:

1. Everyone's passports are valid. The data is checked against them at capture. If a child's passport is about to expire, it is renewed before the application is filed, not before the biometrics.
2. Children attend in person. If the parents are divorced, the other parent's consent is arranged at filing, otherwise the child will not be included in the application.
3. Elderly parents. Decide early whether they can come to a centre or need an officer visit.
4. Family in different cities. It is easier to gather everyone in one place than to book several visits.
5. A centre abroad. If you choose Dubai or Hong Kong, check the visa rules for every passport in the family.

A power of attorney cannot be used for biometrics. The process is personal: the applicant signs the programme forms, and every person gives biometrics.

What this means for you. One well-chosen date closes the entire personal stage. After that it only remains to wait for the passports to be printed and delivered.

What biometrics do not require

A lot of extra ideas have gathered around the requirement, so it helps to say what it does not mean.

• You do not have to live in Vanuatu. The law requires no residence, before or after citizenship.
• There is no language or history exam. That applies to naturalisation after 10 years in the country, not to investment programmes.
• You do not have to travel to the islands. Port Vila is one of the centres, not a required one.
• You do not repeat biometrics every year. Next time is when the passport is replaced.

What this means for you. Personal presence means one meeting of 30-60 minutes, not a move and not a series of trips.

What happens after biometrics

The data goes to the Immigration and Passport Services in Port Vila. The passports are printed there, sent by courier to BRIDGES, and we send them on to you. You do not have to travel anywhere to collect them.

The new passport is biometric and valid for 10 years. Citizenship does not need renewing; only the document changes, and biometrics are given again at replacement.

What this means for you. The next in-person meeting is needed only when the passport is replaced in 10 years.

For Russian citizens after receiving the passport

Giving biometrics in Moscow creates no obligations towards Russian authorities: it is another state's process. An obligation arises later, once the Vanuatu passport is in your hands.

Russia allows dual citizenship, but the Interior Ministry must be notified of a second citizenship within 60 days. The period runs from the date you receive the passport if you are in Russia, or from the date you enter Russia if the passport was received abroad. Failure to notify carries criminal liability: a fine of up to 200,000 roubles or up to 400 hours of compulsory work.

Notification is filed for every family member, including children; for minors it is filed by the parents. We remind you of the deadline when the passports are delivered.

What this means for you. Note the date you receive the passports. The 60 days for notifying the Interior Ministry run from it.

How to spot an outdated offer

The in-person biometrics requirement has been in force for more than a year, and three promises cannot be kept today:

• "fully remote, without a single meeting";
• "a passport without biometrics, we will submit the data ourselves";
• "we will send a representative in your place under power of attorney".

None of these promises can be fulfilled lawfully since 1 July 2025. If an agent insists on them, check them against the official list of authorised agents on the Citizenship Office website.

What this means for you. The correct answer to "can it be done without travelling" is: without travelling to Vanuatu, yes; without an in-person meeting, no.

Many took the in-person biometrics requirement as the end of a convenient programme. In fact it made the passport stronger, and the inconvenience came down to one meeting. For our clients that meeting takes place in Moscow, where the oath is taken the same day, or in St Petersburg. If even that is far, an officer of the Immigration Service comes to the client's home, in any city and even for one person. A trip to the islands is a choice, not a condition.

Sergey EvdokimovManaging Partner, BRIDGES

What applicants should do now

• Tell us straight away which city the family lives in: the place and cost of biometrics depend on it.
• Check the passport validity of everyone, including children, before filing.
• Decide whether elderly parents need an officer visit.
• Plan one day for the whole family in the last weeks of the process.
• Do not believe promises of fully remote processing: since July 2025 that does not happen.
• After receiving the passports, notify the Russian Interior Ministry of your second citizenship within 60 days.

Sources

• Mandatory in-person biometrics from 1 July 2025: announcement by the government of Vanuatu of 22 May 2025.
• Centres in Port Vila, Dubai, Hong Kong and Nouméa: data from the Vanuatu Immigration Service.
• Moscow (biometrics and oath), St Petersburg, home visits by an officer, passport delivery: our practice.
• Process steps and the single in-person meeting: our client handling procedure.
• Notification of a second citizenship: the Russian citizenship law and Article 330.2 of the Russian Criminal Code.
• All facts checked on 9 October 2026.

Related: Vanuatu citizenship for Russians, Documents for Vanuatu citizenship, Vanuatu citizenship timeline, The Vanuatu passport is replaced every 10 years, Vanuatu citizenship for the whole family, Vanuatu citizenship for retirees, How to tell the Vanuatu programme from a grey scheme.