Vanuatu Passport and Greek Residency for a Family of Four: From Kuala Lumpur to Athens

Five years in Malaysia and a letter from school

Roman leads a team of developers working for European clients. Yulia runs design projects remotely. Their daughter is 14 and their son Grigory 9; both attend an international school.

Five years ago the family moved to Kuala Lumpur for Roman’s job. Life settled down, but their status in Malaysia depends on his work and is renewed regularly.

Greece solved three things at once. Their daughter finishes school in Europe. The working day matches their clients’ time zone. And the grandparents in Moscow are much closer than from Asia.

The family had compared the Greek programmes themselves and settled on the Golden Visa. It is granted for one home purchase covering the whole family: spouse and children under 21. They were going to buy a flat in Athens anyway.

The family did not need a second passport for its own sake. They needed a lawful way for all four of them to live in Athens.

Darya MelnikSenior Investment Programs Advisor

Why the road to Athens began with Vanuatu

All four came to the first meeting. Grigory drew in a notebook; Ksenia listened more closely than anyone, as this was about her school. Roman asked straight away: is it true Russians cannot get the Golden Visa now? The lawyer answered precisely. Since 2022 Greece has not accepted first-time applications from Russian and Belarusian citizens. There is no ban on the nationality, but you cannot apply on a Russian passport.

There is one working path: apply as citizens of another country. The lawyer proposed Vanuatu. It takes 2-3 months, there is no need to live on the islands, and the whole family goes in one application.

Yulia asked what almost everyone asks: what if Greece says no later? The lawyer proposed not taking a blind risk. Before any payment we would get a written opinion from Greek lawyers: could they apply as Vanuatu citizens, and how would payment for the flat work.

The opinion came ten days later: they can apply on standard terms. Only then did the family sign the Vanuatu contract. How both stages are handled is described on the Vanuatu passport and Greek residency page.

The fund was cheaper, but the family chose the donation

For a family of four the coconut oil fund costs USD 165,000, with 50,000 returned after five years. The donation costs 185,000. The lawyer put the numbers side by side and said plainly: the fund is better for you.

Then Roman mentioned the flat in Athens. He had already found one and wanted to pay a deposit in winter. The purchase money had to stay free.

The lawyer asked them to open their family budget and laid it out by month. December: deposit on the flat. January: fund payment, if they chose the fund. February: the balance for the flat. January and February did not add up: the family did not have enough for both payments at once.

The fund is paid when the full package is filed, and USD 50,000 stays there for five years. The donation is paid only after Commission approval. With the fund, the family would have been short of money for the flat at exactly the wrong moment.

The family chose the donation and knew the price of that decision: USD 20,000 now and 70,000 after five years. Roman called it the price of a calm purchase. For many other families of four the fund is the better choice.

Documents for four without leaving Malaysia

Vanuatu requires forms for each person, police certificates, medical reports and Roman’s money documents. Ksenia is 14, so she goes through due diligence with her parents. Grigory was included on his birth certificate.

The Russian certificates were collected by a grandmother under a power of attorney. She went to the service centre twice: the first time she forgot a copy of the power of attorney, the second time it took twenty minutes. Then she had the documents apostilled and couriered them herself.

The rest the family gathered in Malaysia. All four had their medical checks at a clinic in Kuala Lumpur on one Saturday. The children grumbled at first, but after the clinic everyone went to the park, and the doctor’s visit turned into a day out.

The programme photos were taken at a studio near the school. Grigory kept fidgeting and his photo had to be retaken three times. The last attempt met every requirement of the programme.

Children’s names spelled two ways

The Russian birth certificates spelled the children’s names one way and their passports another. For due diligence those are different people. We agreed the spelling from the passports at the translation stage, and the same spelling was later used in the Greek documents.

Roman had saved the money from five years of salary. Employment contracts, bank statements and Malaysian tax documents confirmed the amount without questions. Why name spelling matters is explained in name transliteration in a Vanuatu passport.

The family gave biometrics for Vanuatu in Hong Kong. Under the plan, passports are issued 2-3 months after filing.

The school chose the family before the flat did

Every decision in this story revolved around the school. So it was chosen first, even before the Vanuatu passports.

Yulia made a list of four international schools in Athens and wrote to each. Two replied that there were no places in the right year. The third was far from the centre. The fourth invited Ksenia to an online interview.

The interview was in January, at ten in the evening Kuala Lumpur time. Ksenia was nervous but did well, and the school confirmed a place for September. For enrolment it asked for school reports, a translated birth certificate and proof of an address in Athens.

That is why the flat search focused within ten minutes of that school. And the move was set for August, so the children could get used to the city before classes began.

A flat in Athens: EUR 250,000 instead of 800,000

The family wanted to live near the school in Athens. The lawyer showed the Golden Visa thresholds. In Attica, which includes Athens, the standard threshold is EUR 800,000 for one property of at least 120 sq m. The family did not have that money.

But there is a separate option: EUR 250,000 for a property converted from commercial to residential use. The 120 sq m rule does not apply. The conversion must be completed before filing, and the space cannot be used as an office.

Three flats and one that fitted

A Greek lawyer checked three options. In the first, the conversion to residential was not finished, although the seller insisted it was: the land registry still listed the unit as an office. The residence application simply would not have been accepted. The second lacked a permit for alterations, and the purchase could have dragged on for six months.

The third, a former office on the ground floor of a residential building ten minutes from the school, passed every check. The conversion was completed and registered, with no encumbrances. The family viewed it by video, and Ksenia was the first to notice the schoolyard visible from the window.

How this option works is covered in Greece Golden Visa for EUR 250,000.

A budget in two currencies

Payments went to different countries at different times, so the budget was counted in dollars and euros. The confirmed base included only amounts that do not depend on negotiation.

Roman admitted he had first planned to buy a cheaper flat and save on the lawyer. After problems turned up in the first two options, he said himself that the checks had paid off. All costs are covered in how much the Greece Golden Visa costs.

August: moving in time for the school year

Travelling to Greece on a Vanuatu passport requires a Schengen visa. The family arranged it in spring. A national D visa is not needed for the Golden Visa: the application is filed while already in Greece.

Their last month in Kuala Lumpur went on goodbyes: school friends, neighbours, the favourite café round the corner. The lease ended in late July, the furniture was sold, and books and toys went by sea.

The move was timed to the school year. In August the family flew to Athens, the lawyer filed the application, and all four gave biometrics. One trip is usually enough for that.

Then comes a long wait. In Attica processing takes 12-24 months; at the end of 2025 there were more than 9,000 pending applications. The lawyer told the family from the start: it will not be three months.

The first two weeks in Athens went on everyday matters. The lawyer helped get Greek tax numbers and open a bank account. Roman set up home internet on day one: client calls were not going to wait.

While the review is pending, the family lives in Athens on the blue certificate. The children go to school. Any travel in Europe before the cards are issued is planned knowing the blue certificate does not allow it. More in Vanuatu passport and Schengen.

What the family will get

Under this scenario the family will hold Vanuatu passports for all four and five-year Greece Golden Visa cards. The cards are renewed as long as they own the flat. Decisions are made by each country’s authorities, so the outcome is described as expected.

Grigory will join the same school campus as his sister, in the junior years. His parents expect him to master Greek street names faster than anyone in the family: children pick up a new language faster than adults.

Ksenia finishes school in Athens. The lawyer reminded them separately that children stay on the family permit until 21. By then Ksenia will need her own basis, such as study, and it is worth preparing early.

Golden Visa years count towards long-term status only if the family actually lives in Greece. This family does, so the time counts for them.

The grandparents in Moscow will also be able to come for long stays. The parents of both spouses can be added to the same Greek residence under the same flat, with no new purchase. The family decided to return to this in a year, once settled.

The Vanuatu passport opened the door to Greece, and a flat by the school turned the move into a new life.

Darya MelnikSenior Investment Programs Advisor

Who this path suits

This story repeats for families who cannot apply for the Golden Visa on their own passport, can budget for two countries and intend to really live in Greece.

If the family has stable income from abroad, Greek residency may be possible without a second passport, for example the financially independent person permit.

A similar story: a retired couple: winters in Asia, summers in Greece. Full Greek programme terms are on the Greece Golden Visa page.

Composite example: this story is based on typical enquiries; no real clients are described. Figures as of September 2026. Decisions on Vanuatu citizenship and Greek residency are made by the authorities of those countries.