A Vanuatu Passport as a Backup Document for a Tech Founder with One Citizenship

What the applicant came with

Maxim is 37. Twelve years ago he started a company that builds logistics software. Today he has forty people in Warsaw, Vilnius and Tbilisi and clients in Europe and Asia.

He has lived in Poland on a residence permit for six years. He has one passport, Belarusian.

There had already been a warning sign. A year earlier he planned to attend a trade show in Singapore, but the visa arrived a day after his flight. The company stand ran without him, and a junior manager held the meetings. At the time he put it down to bad luck.

His request at the meeting was short: a second passport, any kind, quickly. He admitted he had not thought about it at all before the bank’s letter. The passport sat in a desk drawer and felt permanent.

He came for a second passport and left understanding how much of his life rested on one.

Daniel KovachSenior International Law Attorney

The list our lawyer wrote on a sheet of paper

The lawyer did not start with programmes. He took a sheet of paper, wrote “passport” in the middle and asked Maxim to list what depended on it.

The bank came first. Then the residence permit. Then client contracts he signs as director. Travel. And at the end he spotted the key point himself: this passport can only be replaced in Belarus.

Then the lawyer did the timing. Many countries admit travellers only with a passport valid for six more months. So for travel the document would stop working not in two years, but in about eighteen months.

Maxim looked at the sheet for a long time. Then he took a photo of it. He said he would show it to his finance director: this was as much a risk for the company as for him.

Vanuatu passport first, card renewal second

At the second meeting another date came up. Maxim’s Polish residence card was due for renewal in a year.

The lawyer suggested a simple order. Get the Vanuatu passport first. Then go to renew the card with two valid documents. That way Maxim has a buffer even if the Belarusian passport is running short on validity by then.

We also checked what needs to be done in Poland after obtaining a second citizenship. Maxim will report the new document to the immigration authority under local rules. Then at renewal the records and documents match, and there are no extra questions.

He admitted he would never have thought about the order himself. He would have renewed the card as usual and dealt with the second passport later, when it was already urgent.

What we had to say honestly: this passport will not open Schengen

His first thought was that if he was getting a second passport, it should work for Europe too. The lawyer stopped him straight away: Vanuatu citizens need a visa for Schengen.

But Europe was never his problem. He travels in Schengen on his Polish card. Asia is where he flies often, and there a Vanuatu passport works: Hong Kong visa-free for 90 days, Singapore and Malaysia for 30.

And the main point was elsewhere. Vanuatu citizenship takes 2-3 months, there is no residence requirement, and the passport is issued for ten years. It can later be replaced without a trip to Vanuatu.

Maxim said he did not need a new home, he needed a spare key. All destinations for a Vanuatu passport are listed in visa-free countries.

Cost: decided in five minutes

For one person the donation costs USD 135,000 including the due diligence fee. The coconut oil fund costs 165,000, which for a single applicant is 30,000 more.

Maxim is not married and has no children, so a return in five years made no difference. He chose the donation. It was the shortest part of the meeting.

He only asked what would happen if he had a family in a few years. The lawyer explained that a spouse and children can be added to citizenship later with a separate application, without repeating the whole process. More in adding family members.

He received the money as dividends from his company. His Polish accounts have always been in order, so the payout decisions, statements and tax returns were collected in a week. Programme costs for different family sizes are in how much Vanuatu citizenship costs.

Documents from Belarus without leaving Warsaw

The hardest part was not the money but two papers from Belarus: a police certificate and an apostille on the birth certificate. Maxim did not want to and could not travel for them.

We arranged a power of attorney at a Polish notary for a representative in Minsk. The wording was agreed in advance so it covered every step: request the certificate, collect it, apostille it and send it by courier. The representative filed the requests in the first week.

The certificate ran three weeks late

The promised date passed and there was no certificate. Maxim grew nervous and asked whether everything would fall apart. The lawyer answered calmly: we started with the longest item, so there is a buffer.

Every few days the representative sent photos of receipts and stamps so Maxim could see things were moving. When the certificate was finally issued, he took it for apostille the same day and couriered it to Warsaw.

While we waited, we closed everything else. The Polish police certificate, a CV with work history, a bank letter, the asset statement. When the Belarusian certificate arrived, the package was ready in two days.

The full list of documents for each applicant is in documents for Vanuatu citizenship.

A company in three countries and one due diligence question

For an entrepreneur, due diligence looks at the business as well as the person. Maxim has a company in Poland and teams in Lithuania and Georgia. Three countries, three registries, three languages.

We drew a simple one-page ownership chart: who owns what and in what shares. Extracts from the Lithuanian and Georgian registries were translated into English. We also attached a list of major clients with contracts.

The finance director’s discovery

Maxim asked his finance director to gather the company documents. Three days later the director called. One old dividend decision lacked the signature of a second board member who had since left the company.

For due diligence that small gap becomes a question: was the payout valid? The former board member could not sign retroactively, so the company’s lawyers prepared a confirmation by the current board and attached that year’s minutes. The issue was closed before filing.

A question about a Georgian contractor

A week after filing, due diligence asked one question. Who is the contractor in Tbilisi that the company pays regularly?

It was a small design studio that built interfaces for the company’s software. We sent the contract, work acceptance records and the studio’s Georgian registry extract. The reply went out in three days, and there were no further questions.

Belarusian citizenship does not bar the programme by itself. But checks on such applicants are more thorough, so we prepared the business documents with a margin. How due diligence works is covered in applicant due diligence.

Six weeks of waiting and an email on a Friday evening

While the application was with the Commission, Maxim got on with his work. The company was releasing a new version of its software for a major client, and he barely thought about the passport.

Once a week the lawyer sent a short message: what stage the application is at and what comes next. That was enough to stay focused and not worry.

The approval email arrived on a Friday evening. Maxim forwarded it to his finance director with a short note: one risk fewer. On Monday he paid the donation, and the lawyer was already picking a biometrics date.

Biometrics in Dubai and a client meeting the same day

After approval Maxim took the oath. All that remained was biometrics and the passport.

Biometrics are given in person. Maxim already had a client meeting planned in Dubai. The lawyer found a morning appointment, and Maxim set the meeting for the afternoon. One trip, two jobs done.

Each stage is covered in detail in Vanuatu citizenship timeline.

What changed for the applicant

Maxim’s Vanuatu passport is expected 2-3 months after filing. The outcome is described as expected: the decision rests with the Citizenship Commission.

Most of the time the passport will stay in a safe. In Europe Maxim still lives and travels on his Polish card. To Asia he now flies on his Vanuatu passport and waits for no visas.

The first trip on the new passport

First, Maxim planned a trip to a client in Singapore. The lawyer reminded him of the small things people trip over most often. Buy the ticket on the passport you travel with. Update the document number in the airline profile. Fill in the Singapore arrival card with the Vanuatu passport too.

He left his citizenship certificate in the safe at home. You travel only with the passport, and if it is lost a new one is issued on the strength of the certificate. Combining two passports on the road is covered in travel tips for a Vanuatu passport.

He told the company’s bank about the second citizenship himself. There is no point hiding it: forms ask about all citizenships, and an honest line today saves questions tomorrow.

If the Belarusian passport stops working for travel in eighteen months, the company will not stop. The director’s details will be updated to the Vanuatu passport, and contracts and accounts will keep working.

After that meeting, the finance director asked for the same risk list for all key staff. Two developers also turned out to have passports that can only be renewed at home. Their document expiry dates now sit in the company calendar next to contract and licence deadlines.

A backup passport works quietly. While the main one is valid, it stays in the safe. When the main one runs out, the company does not even notice.

Daniel KovachSenior International Law Attorney

Who this path suits

This story repeats for entrepreneurs with one citizenship whose business, residence permit and travel all rest on one passport. Especially when that passport can only be renewed at home.

The best time for a second passport is while the main one still has a year or two left. Later, documents from home are harder to obtain, and travel starts running into the six-month rule.

Similar stories: a Vanuatu passport for a Singapore deal and newlyweds with one application for two. Full programme terms are on the Vanuatu citizenship page.

Composite example: this story is based on typical enquiries; no real clients are described. Figures as of September 2026. The decision on citizenship is made by the Vanuatu Citizenship Commission.