Vanuatu Citizenship for Newlyweds: One Application for Two and a New Surname

What the couple came with

Artur is 31. He runs a software company in Kazan that builds logistics tools and is looking for clients in Singapore and Hong Kong. Diana is 27, an architect who enters competitions abroad.

Both are Russian citizens. No children yet, but they want one within two years.

They explained why they wanted a second citizenship in five minutes. In autumn Artur flies to a client in Singapore and wants to travel in Asia without visa forms. And both want a status their children will inherit.

The plan was simple: gather documents in two weeks, file in July, have passports by September. The spouse was going to hand over whatever documents she had at home. The money was partly in Artur’s account and partly wedding gifts from guests.

Three problems our lawyer found at the meeting

The lawyer did not start with the programme. He asked to see their passports, birth certificates and bank statements. And he asked where the money came from. That is how three problems surfaced.

The spouse has two surnames

A week after the wedding the spouse replaced her internal passport and applied for a new international passport in Artur’s surname. Her birth certificate, diploma and police certificate were all in her maiden name.

She did not even see it as a problem: the new international passport seemed a formality that would sort itself out. But filing in July meant filing documents for a person with two surnames: an international passport in her maiden name and all new documents in Artur’s surname.

Money with no proof

Almost half the amount came from guests, mostly in cash. Artur had already deposited it.

To due diligence that is money of unknown origin. The lawyer said straight away: in this form it will not pass.

A visa refusal nobody mentioned

Asked about visas, Artur said there had been no problems. Near the end of the meeting it came out that two years earlier he had been refused a European visa. He thought it trivial and did not plan to mention it in the form.

The couple were upset: it felt as if the plan had fallen apart. The lawyer laid it out step by step. The new passport solves the surname. Documents solve the money. An honest line in the form solves the refusal. None of the problems took more than a couple of weeks.

None of the three problems closed the path to citizenship. But each one turned a quick filing into a long exchange with due diligence.

Sofia MendesInvestment Programs Expert

They wanted the fund and chose the donation

The spouse arrived keen on the coconut oil fund. She had read that part of the money comes back later.

The lawyer put the numbers side by side. For a couple the donation costs USD 155,000 including the due diligence fee. The fund costs 165,000, but 50,000 comes back after five years.

After five years the fund is USD 40,000 cheaper, and the lawyer showed that plainly. Then he asked: what big expenses do you have coming up?

It turned out Artur was opening an office in autumn. Money for rent and first hires was needed now. The fund is paid at filing, and 50,000 stays there for five years. The donation is paid only after approval.

Artur took out his phone and opened the office budget right at the table. A year’s rent, two developers, furniture. Diana looked over his shoulder in silence. Ten minutes later she herself suggested keeping the money for the office, to put it to work now.

The couple recalculated with the office in mind and chose the donation, right there at the meeting. More on the choice in donation or fund.

How we linked two surnames into one chain

The first decision: do not rush. The lawyer suggested waiting for the spouse’s new passport and only then gathering her documents.

The couple hesitated; a month felt lost. The lawyer explained that with a July filing the certificate and forms would have to be redone after the passport came anyway. That would take longer.

While the passport was being made, we drew up a table: which document is in which surname and what links them. We decided not to file the old police certificate and to order a new one on the new passport.

The marriage certificate went for apostille and translation first. It shows both surnames, so it links all the other documents.

The passport was issued on 20 July. At nine in the morning the spouse sent a photo of the new page to the chat, and by eleven the certificate had been ordered. In the form the new surname went in as the main one and the maiden name under “other names”, so due diligence searches records under both.

A mistake caught in time

At the final check our specialist noticed that the birth certificate translation spelled the spouse’s name with one letter different from the passport. A small thing, but due diligence sends requests over exactly such things.

The translation was redone to match the passport in four days. Why it matters is explained in name spelling in a Vanuatu passport.

We gathered the applicant’s documents while waiting for the spouse’s passport

The month of waiting was not wasted. In that time we gathered all Artur’s documents: police certificate, CV, company registry extract, bank letter and bank statement. By 10 July his part was ready and translated.

Both spouses had medical checks at a clinic in Kazan. The lawyer checked the form in advance so the doctor would not have to rewrite the report.

Photos on the second try

The couple first had photos taken at a studio near home, as for a Russian passport. We checked them against the programme requirements: the face size and background were wrong.

The next day they were retaken using our guide. The photographer was surprised by the requirements at first, then printed the guide and pinned it to his wall. One extra visit to the studio. With the wrong photos the whole package would have come back.

When the spouse received her passport, her documents were ready within a week: almost everything was already in progress. The full list is in documents for Vanuatu citizenship.

Wedding money: what we documented, what we left out

We treated the money like the documents. We split the amount into parts and found proof for each. Or took it out of the payment.

The applicant’s dividends

Most of it Artur had saved from his company’s dividends over three years. We collected the payout decisions, bank statements and tax reports. The company accountant prepared the whole set in three days, because Artur’s books had always been in order. Amounts and dates matched. No questions here.

The parents’ gifts

Parents on both sides gave large sums. The lawyer asked them not to hand over cash but to sign gift agreements and transfer from account to account. The parents’ statements, showing where they got the money, were attached.

The spouse’s father was offended at first: why a contract for a gift to his daughter? Artur explained it simply. Due diligence does not know he is her dad. It only sees money in an account and asks where it came from. The agreement answers that for them. After that the agreement was signed in one evening.

Guests’ cash

There was nothing to prove the guests’ gifts. We took them out of the donation amount. The couple kept that money for other expenses, and the dividends and parents’ gifts covered the donation.

In the end every dollar of the payment had a document. How money is checked is covered in applicant due diligence.

The visa refusal the applicant wanted to hide

Artur thought an old visa refusal had nothing to do with Vanuatu. The lawyer explained the risk. The form asks about refusals directly. If a hidden refusal surfaces during due diligence, doubts extend to the whole application.

The refusal was declared. Artur found the consulate’s letter with the reason: not enough proof of the purpose of travel. We attached it with a short explanation. Due diligence did not ask a single question about it.

The letter did not turn up right away. Artur spent two evenings searching his email and in the end requested a copy from the visa centre. Without it we would have written the explanation ourselves, but with the document it is more convincing.

The evening before filing: two hours over one folder

The evening before filing the couple came to the office for a final check. Two stacks of documents lay on the table, one each. Next to them, our three-page checklist.

Our specialist read through the list aloud. Does the name in the form match the passport? Yes. Does the date of birth in the translation match the original? Yes. Does the amount in the statement match the asset report? Yes.

Forty minutes in, a small thing turned up. The spouse’s CV showed a graduation year that did not match her diploma. She had simply mistyped it. Fixed in five minutes.

The spouse admitted she was nervous. Our specialist said that is exactly what the check is for: anything due diligence might find in a month, we find tonight.

At nine in the evening the folder was closed. In the morning the application went to due diligence.

Filing on 12 August and what came next

The joint application went to due diligence on 12 August. Five working days later one request came in: replace Artur’s company extract with a more recent one.

Artur saw the request in the evening and messaged the lawyer at once: is something wrong? The lawyer replied five minutes later. This request is expected, and the fresh extract is already with us. The reply went out two days later, and due diligence had no further questions.

After due diligence we filed the full package with the Citizenship Commission. While the couple waited for the decision, the lawyer booked their biometrics in Moscow. Artur combined the trip with a business meeting; Diana came for two days.

The spouse found the wait hardest. So every Friday the lawyer sent the couple a short status update: where the application is, what is done, what comes next. After that there were almost no “any news?” messages.

After approval Artur paid the donation, the couple took the oath and gave biometrics. The passports went into production.

Filing to passports usually takes 2-3 months. More in Vanuatu citizenship timeline.

What changed for the couple

Vanuatu passports for both are expected in October. Artur flies to Singapore on the new passport, visa-free. Before such a trip he used to gather an invitation and statements and wait for a decision. Now he buys a ticket and goes, and a Vanuatu passport allows up to 30 days in Singapore. The spouses will notify the Interior Ministry of their second citizenship within 60 days; both keep their Russian citizenship.

The company office opened in autumn, with the very money the couple kept by choosing the donation.

Separately, the lawyer talked the couple through a future child. If born after they become citizens, the child obtains citizenship through the parents, with no new contribution.

The outcome is described as expected: the decision rests with the Citizenship Commission.

The couple lost a month at the start and not a single day after filing.

Sofia MendesInvestment Programs Expert

Who this path suits

This story repeats for couples who apply right after the wedding. A surname changes, some of the money is a gift, documents were gathered before the marriage.

The winner is whoever first puts documents and money in order, and only then files.

If the wedding is still ahead, come for a consultation before it. We will tell you which certificates to order after the surname change and which can be ordered now. And how to document gifts so they can go towards the donation.

A similar story: a Vanuatu passport for a Singapore deal. 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.