Vanuatu Citizenship for a Newborn: A Daughter’s Passport Without an Investment Donation

A photo from the maternity ward and a passport question

Denis is 36, Alina is 33. Both are Russian citizens living in Moscow. Denis runs a small company that repairs industrial equipment; Alina is an architect.

The couple obtained Vanuatu citizenship a year and a half ago. At the time they were thinking about a backup plan: a second passport in case something went wrong with the first one while travelling, and easy entry to where the family has relatives.

Those relatives are in Singapore. The spouse’s sister has lived there for six years with her husband and two children. Russians need a visa for Singapore; Vanuatu citizens do not, for up to 30 days. The couple flew there twice a year.

They had obtained citizenship through an agent in Dubai. The agent later moved office and answered emails once a week. So with the question about his daughter, Denis wrote to us: a friend who had got his Vanuatu passport with us had recommended us.

The parents were not afraid of the cost. They were afraid of another six months of paperwork, this time with a baby in their arms.

Anna KovalevskayaHead of Legal

The parents were bracing for a second round

The lawyer called Denis the same day, around lunchtime. Alina and daughter were still in hospital. Denis spoke quietly and quickly, as if standing in a hospital corridor.

He remembered his own application in detail. Police certificates, six months of bank statements, the source-of-funds check, questions about his company, three months of waiting. He was ready to go through it all again, but asked for an honest answer on how much time and money it would take.

The lawyer said there would be no second round. A child born after a parent became a citizen acquires Vanuatu citizenship by descent. There is no new donation and no source-of-funds check. Eva does not repeat her parents’ path; she inherits it.

There was a pause on the line. Then Denis asked again: so no donation at all? The lawyer repeated: none at all. What is needed are documents proving birth and parentage, an application and small government fees.

The lawyer explained the difference between cases straight away to avoid confusion later. Had Eva been born before her parents became citizens and not been included in their application, she would have to be added separately, with checks and payment. This is a different case. The procedure is covered in adding a family member to Vanuatu citizenship.

A kitchen-table conversation a week after discharge

The meeting was held at the family’s home. The parents did not want to go anywhere with a week-old baby, so the lawyer came to them. They sat in the kitchen. Eva was asleep in the next room, the baby monitor on the table next to the document folder.

The lawyer started with a simple question: why does Eva need a Vanuatu passport now rather than in five years? The parents had their answer ready.

In spring the family wants to fly to Singapore to introduce the baby to the spouse’s sister. The parents will fly on Vanuatu passports. Eva, on a Russian passport, would need a visa. The whole trip would hinge on one infant’s visa.

The second reason mattered more. The backup plan the parents obtained citizenship for does not work if their child does not have it. If the family ever has to leave quickly on Vanuatu passports, Eva must travel with the same document rather than wait for a visa.

The lawyer wrote down two goals: a Vanuatu passport for Eva before the spring trip, and a Russian international passport for her in parallel. Russian citizens leave and enter Russia on a Russian passport, and a baby is no exception.

The applicant’s certificate was left in Dubai

Eva’s application needs documents from both parents: their Vanuatu passports and citizenship certificates. The passports were in the home safe. The spouse’s certificate was there too.

Denis’s certificate, however, was in Dubai. The family rents a flat there in winter, and Denis had left the original in a bank safe deposit box so as not to carry it across borders. Nobody planned to fly to Dubai with a newborn for one piece of paper.

The lawyer contacted the licensed agent handling the application. Clear colour scans of both sides of the certificate and the passport were enough for filing. The agent asked to keep the original at hand until Eva’s passport was issued, in case it was requested.

To be safe, Denis asked a friend in Dubai to collect the certificate under a power of attorney and send it to Moscow by courier. Ten days later the original was in the safe with the rest. It was never needed, but the parents felt calmer.

The lawyer also went through the old correspondence with the Dubai agent. We needed the number under which the parents are recorded in the citizens’ register. It turned up in the approval email from a year and a half earlier, and we entered it in Eva’s application.

One letter in the daughter’s name

The most important part of the work turned out to be the Latin spelling. Eva will have three documents: a Russian birth certificate, a Russian international passport and a Vanuatu passport. Her name must be spelled the same way in all of them.

Eva’s name ends in the Russian letter «я». In a Russian international passport this letter is written under international rules as IA. But in the first draft of the birth certificate translation, the translator wrote YA, out of habit.

A one-letter difference looks trivial. But if the Vanuatu passport is issued with YA and the Russian one with IA, the girl will travel under two different names. Tickets, insurance, visas and bank accounts would have to be reconciled every time.

The lawyer asked the parents to apply for Eva’s Russian international passport first and find out the exact spelling. We redid the birth certificate translation to match it. Now the Latin spelling is identical in all three documents.

A surname in the feminine form

There was a second detail. Eva’s and the spouse’s surname is in the feminine form, ending in «a». Denis’s surname has no «a». To a Russian reader this is obvious; to a registry officer in Port Vila, two different surnames in one family may look odd.

We attached a short explanation in English: in Russian a surname changes form by gender, and it is one and the same surname. Next to it went the parents’ marriage certificate. No questions came up. How to get the Latin spelling right is covered in names in a Vanuatu passport.

Documents gathered between feeds

The entire package for Eva fitted into one thin folder. The lawyer drew up a list, and from then on the parents simply ticked the boxes.

The apostille on a birth certificate is issued by the civil registry authority of the region where the certificate was issued. It was issued in Moscow. Denis dropped it off himself on the way to the office and collected it a few working days later.

The parents’ marriage certificate was from Nizhny Novgorod, where they had married. No one had to travel there. Our representative obtained the apostille under a power of attorney and sent it by courier.

The English translations were certified by a notary. The lawyer checked every line against the parents’ passports: dates of birth, places of birth, surname spellings. Everything matched first time.

A baby photo with open eyes

The most unexpected challenge was the photo. A passport needs a picture on a light background, face straight on, eyes open, nobody but the child in the frame.

Eva was five weeks old. She opened her eyes only when she was unhappy, and when unhappy she did not lie still. A photographer came to the flat and spent half an hour waiting for the right moment.

The first shot was excellent, but in the corner of the frame was her mother’s hand supporting her head. The lawyer rejected it at once: a photo like that would be returned. The photographer spread a white sheet on the bed and laid the baby on her back. They shot from above, with no hands in the frame.

The second attempt worked. In the photo Eva looks straight into the lens as if she has been interrupted in important business. The parents said it was the best picture of her first month.

The application went in five weeks after birth

Once the folder was complete, both parents signed the application and the consent. The lawyer brought the papers to the flat and waited while the spouse put the baby down. The signatures took ten minutes.

Scans went to the licensed agent in Port Vila, and the originals by courier. The parents paid the certificate and passport fees on the agent’s invoice.

A week later the agent confirmed the package had been accepted without comments. The lawyer sent Denis a short message: the application is in progress, nothing is needed from you for now.

While the baby grew, the application moved

The next weeks were taken up with very different things: sleepless nights, the first paediatrician visit, vaccinations, grandmothers taking turns.

Once a week the lawyer sent Denis a three-line status. It almost always ended with “nothing needed from you”. Denis later admitted these were the nicest messages he got that month.

In parallel, the parents received Eva’s Russian international passport. The Latin spelling matched the certificate translation letter for letter. The lawyer asked for a scan of the data page and added it to the application folder.

At one point the agent asked to confirm the family’s residential address for delivery. The application showed the registered address, but the parents lived in another flat. Denis replied the same evening, and the address was corrected.

Biometrics the baby slept through

Once the citizenship certificate was ready, biometrics for the passport remained. Everyone gives them, children included. No flights were needed: biometrics for a Vanuatu passport are taken in Moscow.

The lawyer booked the family for a morning slot between feeds. He had checked in advance what was needed from such a young child: a parent present, a photo and a document check. The mother signs on Eva’s behalf.

Alina arrived with the baby in a sling. The lawyer met them at the entrance with the folder: birth certificate, both parents’ passports, Eva’s Russian passport. It all took twenty minutes. The baby slept through the whole procedure.

Under the plan the passport arrives by courier in Moscow 1-3 weeks after biometrics. All stages are covered in Vanuatu citizenship timeline.

What the family gets

Under this scenario Eva receives her citizenship certificate and Vanuatu passport at three to four months old. The outcome is described as expected: documents are issued by the Vanuatu Citizenship Office.

The family pays no investment donation for Eva and goes through no source-of-funds check. The parents’ personal time: one kitchen meeting, ten minutes of signatures, a photo session and twenty minutes at biometrics.

In spring the family will be able to fly to Singapore together on Vanuatu passports. Nobody will need a visa, Eva included. The spouse’s sister has already picked the dates.

Eva keeps her Russian citizenship. As her legal representatives, the parents will notify the Interior Ministry of her second citizenship within 60 days of receiving the documents. The lawyer prepared the notification in advance; it only needs signing.

The lawyer repeated the travel rule, now for all three. The family leaves Russia on Russian passports. Tickets are booked on the Vanuatu passports, and the same passports are used to enter Singapore.

Eva’s certificate will be kept in the safe next to her parents’ certificates. All three are now in Moscow, and nobody has to retrieve anything from a safe deposit box.

The family’s backup plan is now complete: all three have the same documents.

Anna KovalevskayaHead of Legal

Who this path suits

This story repeats in families where the parents are already Vanuatu citizens and a child is born later. Such a child is entitled to citizenship by descent, with no donation and no source-of-funds check. The work comes down to documents and can be done without leaving your city.

The key is not to delay and to match the Latin spelling to the child’s Russian passport straight away. A one-letter error causes trouble with travel and banks for years.

It is a different case if a child was born before the parents became citizens and was not in their application, or a new spouse joins the family. Then a separate application with checks and payment is required, and it is worth costing in advance.

Similar stories: newlyweds applying for citizenship together and a Vanuatu passport with four hours of personal time. A dedicated BRIDGES service: citizenship for a newborn. Full programme terms are on the Vanuatu citizenship page.

Composite example: this story is based on typical enquiries; no real clients are described. Fees as of September 2026. Citizenship decisions and document issue are handled by the Vanuatu Citizenship Office.