BRIDGES Insights
What the citizenship programme means for Vanuatu’s budget
Updated: September 2026·12 min read·Expert reviewed
Terms and costs verified: September 2026
Contents
“Won’t they close the programme?” Every second meeting starts with this question. I used to answer with reasoning; now I show two numbers. In 2024 the citizenship programmes brought Vanuatu 13.8 billion vatu, about 115 million dollars, while the entire Citizenship Commission is budgeted at about 82 million vatu in 2026. Running the programme costs the state less than one per cent of what it brings in, and per resident it amounts to around 380 dollars a year. After these figures the question usually answers itself. Below I look at how deeply the programme is built into the budget, how it is enshrined in law and which risks are actually real.
In brief: the scale for the country
- Programme revenue was 13.8 billion vatu in 2024, about 115 million dollars.
- The country’s population is about 300,000 people.
- This works out at around 380 dollars per resident a year.
- The upkeep of the Citizenship Commission is about 82 million vatu in the 2026 budget.
- So running the programme costs less than one per cent of what it brings in.
- The programme is enshrined in law, and decisions on it are taken by parliament.
We will review the programme’s stability for your goal
We will tell you which risks are real for your planning horizon and which have been discussed for years without consequences.
What the programme brings in
Reserve Bank of Vanuatu data by year.
State revenue from citizenship by investment programmes according to Reserve Bank of Vanuatu reporting. The 2026 figure covers the first half and is marked with a dashed outline: the year is not over.
The Reserve Bank notes separately that around 80 per cent of these receipts come from the DSP and VCP investment programmes, with the rest from other fees. Even with this adjustment, the amount is comparable to the country’s largest sources of its own revenue.
What this means for you. Revenue from the programme is comparable to the country’s largest items of its own revenue. The state has no economic reason to close such a source.
What this means on a national scale
Absolute figures say little until they are set against the size of the economy. Comparisons that help to see the scale.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Programme revenue, 2024 | 13.8 bn vatu (~USD 115 m) |
| Population of Vanuatu | about 300,000 people |
| Per resident | around USD 380 a year |
| Citizenship Commission costs, 2026 | about 82 m vatu |
| Management costs share | less than 1% of programme revenue |
For comparison: a country with a similar economy earns its main revenue from agriculture, tourism and the offshore financial sector. The citizenship programme now ranks alongside these sectors, while requiring neither infrastructure nor jobs, and without dependence on the weather or the tourist season.
The latter is especially important for a country that regularly suffers from cyclones. Vanuatu’s programme, incidentally, grew out of the recovery after Cyclone Pam in 2015: an economic rehabilitation scheme was launched then, from which today’s programmes developed.
Where the programme came from
Understanding the programme’s origins explains why it is so firmly built into public finances.
In 2013 Vanuatu allowed dual citizenship. In 2014 the first scheme appeared, the Capital Investment Immigration Plan, aimed at Chinese citizens. In March 2015 Cyclone Pam struck the country, one of the most destructive in the history of the South Pacific, and the government launched an economic rehabilitation programme, extending it to applicants from any country.
So the programme grew not from a desire to sell passports but from the task of rebuilding the country after a disaster. This also explains the attitude within Vanuatu: for a state with a population of about three hundred thousand and regular cyclones, it is a mechanism of financial resilience.
After that, schemes merged and replaced each other: VERP, VCP, DSP, the real estate option. We keep the history of changes in the article Vanuatu citizenship programmes: the DSP and others.
How it compares with neighbours
Vanuatu is not unique in relying on a citizenship programme, but the degree of dependence varies.
| State | Population | Role of the programme in the economy |
|---|---|---|
| Vanuatu | about 300,000 | one of the main sources of the budget |
| St Kitts and Nevis | about 50,000 | historically a key source of revenue |
| Dominica | about 70,000 | a significant share of the budget |
| Nauru | about 12,000 | a substantial share of a small budget |
| Grenada | about 125,000 | a noticeable but not decisive share |
The general pattern is simple: the smaller the country, the more important the programme is to it and the less likely it is to give up this revenue. States of this size have no alternative sources of comparable scale. We keep a substantive comparison of the programmes in the article Vanuatu or the Caribbean.
I will review your situation personally
Describe your situation in two lines. I will look at it myself and tell you whether the programme solves your task and what to close before filing.
Legal stability
Economics is half the answer. The other half is how the programme is secured legally.
Citizenship by investment in Vanuatu operates not by a department’s decision but on the basis of law. Decisions are made by the Citizenship Commission, a state body, and changes to the conditions go through parliament. The Commission’s costs are a separate line in the annual budget, so the programme is built into the state’s financial system rather than existing alongside it.
The practical meaning: to close the programme, a decision would be needed from the parliament of a country for whose budget it is one of the main sources. We examined the legal structure in the article the official Vanuatu citizenship programme, and the question of recognition of the status in is Vanuatu citizenship by investment legal.
When I am asked about the programme closing, I show two numbers: one hundred and fifteen million dollars of revenue and eighty-two million vatu of costs for the body that runs it. No state gives up a source of this scale under external pressure when the pressure concerns third countries’ visa regimes rather than the programme itself. The real risk here is different, and the opposite: the programme will become more expensive and stricter. In ten years the entry price has risen by more than half and has never fallen. To those waiting for better terms I usually say that, historically, waiting has not paid off with this programme.
What this means for you. The programme’s conditions change through parliament, not by a department’s order. Major changes become known in advance, and applicants have time to prepare.
What external observers say
Criticism of the programme is voiced regularly, and it is worth reading dispassionately. The European Commission’s main complaints: short review times, a low refusal rate and no requirement of physical presence in the country.
What Vanuatu has corrected: the Financial Intelligence Unit check has become thorough and takes place before filing with the Commission, the refusal rate has risen from a fraction of a per cent to almost two per cent, and since November 2025 a biometric passport has been issued, with all applicants giving biometrics.
What has not changed and is unlikely to: there is no requirement to live in the country, and this is a deliberate design feature of the programme, not a shortcoming. It is what makes the process remote.
A key point that is often lost in retellings: the EU decisions concern the visa regime for Vanuatu citizens, not the legality of the programme itself or the validity of the passports issued. A review is in the article is Vanuatu citizenship by investment legal.
What would happen to the budget if the programme stopped
A useful thought experiment that shows the degree of dependence better than any percentages.
Programme revenue in 2024 was about 115 million dollars with a population of roughly three hundred thousand. That is around 380 dollars per resident a year. For comparison, Vanuatu’s GDP per capita is measured in a few thousand dollars, so the programme provides an amount comparable to a noticeable share of everything the country’s economy produces per person.
There is no substitute for this revenue. Tourism depends on the season and air links, agriculture on the weather, and the offshore financial sector is itself under external pressure. Stopping the programme would mean not a cut in spending but a budget crisis.
That is why Vanuatu responds to criticism by tightening checks rather than winding down: keeping the programme by making it stricter is cheaper than losing it entirely. This logic can be seen in the refusal figures; a review is in the article Vanuatu citizenship refusals.
Which risks are real
Let us separate what is discussed into the real and the imagined.
| Risk | How real | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Closure of the programme | low: it is a pillar of the budget | nothing, but do not postpone indefinitely |
| Rising entry cost | high: happens regularly | apply sooner rather than later |
| Stricter checks | high: already happening | prepare the source of funds in advance |
| Changes in third countries’ visa regimes | medium: outside Vanuatu’s control | do not build the plan on visa-free access |
| Cancellation of passports already issued | low: no precedents on a mass scale | comply with the requirements |
Note that the two most likely scenarios work against those who wait. That is why, in practice, the question “won’t they close it” matters less than the question “how much will it cost in a year”.
The year in figures →Risks of a Vanuatu passport →
What to compare this revenue with at home
To stop the figure of 13.8 billion vatu being an abstraction, it helps to place it next to the state’s other sources of revenue.
Vanuatu’s main own revenues are consumption taxes and import duties, tourism and the offshore financial sector. None of them provides such a concentrated and predictable sum: tourism depends on the season and air links, duties on trade turnover, and the financial sector is itself under external pressure.
At the same time the citizenship programme requires no infrastructure, jobs or capital investment by the state. The cost side is the upkeep of the Commission, about 82 million vatu in the 2026 budget. The ratio of revenue to cost here is like that of no other government function.
The context is also worth remembering: the programme grew out of the recovery after Cyclone Pam in 2015. For a country that regularly loses infrastructure to natural disasters, it is also a mechanism for quick access to money without loans or foreign aid.
How we calculated
Citizenship programme revenue is taken from the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu’s quarterly economic reviews, and the share of the DSP and VCP programmes from its reporting. The Citizenship Commission’s costs are from Vanuatu’s 2026 budget. The population is from national statistics, rounded to 300,000 people, and the per-resident calculation is ours. The populations and role of programmes in neighbouring states are approximate data from open sources, and the assessment of their role is ours.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask before deciding
01How much does the citizenship programme bring to Vanuatu’s budget?
According to Reserve Bank of Vanuatu reporting, revenue was 13.8 billion vatu in 2024, about 115 million dollars, and around 11.2 billion vatu in 2025. About 80 per cent of these receipts come from the DSP and VCP investment programmes.
02How significant is this for the country?
Vanuatu’s population is about 300,000, so this works out at around 380 dollars per resident a year. The programme now ranks alongside agriculture, tourism and the offshore financial sector as a source of government revenue.
03Could the programme be closed?
There are no economic grounds for that. Running the programme costs the budget about 82 million vatu against revenue of more than a hundred million dollars. External pressure concerns third countries’ visa regimes, not Vanuatu’s right to grant citizenship.
04On what basis does the programme operate?
On the basis of law. Decisions are made by the Citizenship Commission, a state body whose costs are a separate line in the budget. Changes to the conditions go through the country’s parliament.
05Which risks to the programme are actually real?
Rising entry costs and stricter checks. Both scenarios are already happening: in ten years the minimum entry price has risen by more than half and has never fallen, and the refusal rate has risen from a fraction of a per cent to almost two per cent.
06Could passports already issued be cancelled?
There are no precedents on a mass scale. Cancellation is possible in individual cases if false information given in the application comes to light, which is a standard rule for any citizenship obtained by application.
About the author
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