Case study · Vanuatu
Vanuatu Citizenship for a Couple Living on a Catamaran: Sailing by the Weather, Not by Visas
Updated: September 2026·11 min read·Expert reviewed
Composite example based on typical private client enquiries · figures as of September 2026 · names invented
Contents
For five years a couple from Yerevan have lived on a sailing catamaran with no fixed address: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, stays of several months at a time. They have learned to read the weather from the clouds, yet their route still had to bend around visas. Twice they gave up on the Philippines: Armenian passport holders need a visa, and its processing time never matched the weather window. When the rainy season began and the catamaran was tied up at Langkawi, the couple booked a consultation with our lawyer and called by video straight from the marina. They wanted to get a second passport while the catamaran was berthed. We took it on: explained a life without an address to due diligence, sent signatures by courier to the island and booked biometrics in Hong Kong. Here is how it went and where the couple will sail next season.
A catamaran instead of a flat in Yerevan
Ashot is 52, Lilit is 49. Both are Armenian citizens. For twenty years Ashot built a Yerevan company developing software for European clients. Lilit ran its accounts and finances.
Five years ago Ashot sold his share to his partners. The couple bought a second-hand sailing catamaran in Phuket and went to sea. Their flat in Yerevan is let, and their adult son lives in Berlin.
In their first year on the water the couple learned everything from scratch: setting sails, fixing an engine in a swell, finding out in advance what papers each port requires. By the third year the spouse had a thick folder of copies of passports, vessel papers and marina agreements. Later that folder saved us weeks of work.
Life on the water is simple. Six months of passages between islands, six months in a marina while the rains last. Everything is planned around the wind seasons. Everything except visas.
The sea gives the couple freedom, and every time the passport takes some of it away.
The Philippines the couple never reached
On the first call the lawyer asked them to describe the last season in detail, week by week. The spouse opened the logbook and started reading.
Armenian passport holders can stay in Malaysia visa-free for up to 30 days. That is not enough for long stays, so every month the couple sailed out to neighbouring Thailand to come back with a new stamp. Each such trip took two days and depended on the weather.
Singapore requires Armenians to get an e-visa. For a single marina stop to buy spare parts, they had to apply in advance and guess the arrival date.
The Philippines requires a regular visa through the embassy, with bookings and bank statements. The couple planned the Palawan archipelago twice. The first time the visa did not arrive in time for the weather window. The second time the window fell over public holidays, and the embassy was closed.
The lawyer compared the couple’s route with what a Vanuatu passport offers. It allows visa-free stays of up to 30 days in the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia, and up to 90 days in Hong Kong.
The passport solves the crew’s personal visas. Clearing the vessel itself in port remains a separate procedure.
Public visa requirement tables and the BRIDGES visa-free destinations database, September 2026
The lawyer made one thing clear straight away to avoid false expectations. A Vanuatu passport removes visas for the people on board. Vessel clearance in and out, customs and port fees stay the same as before.
Why the couple chose the donation over the fund
For a couple the donation costs USD 155,000 including the due diligence fee. The coconut oil fund costs 165,000, with 50,000 returned after five years.
On paper the fund is better value: after the refund the couple would spend 115,000 instead of 155,000. The lawyer said so directly. But the couple had their own reasoning.
The catamaran is twelve years old. In the next two years it needs new sails and an overhaul of one engine. The spouse had already set that money aside, and the couple did not want to keep 165,000 in a fund for five years. What mattered most to them: the donation is paid only after approval, so the money stays in their account until the Commission decides.
Only the due diligence fee is paid at filing. The donation is paid after approval by the Commission.
Vanuatu programme terms as of September 2026
The spouse, a former finance director, recalculated everything herself and agreed. How the two programmes compare is covered in donation or fund.
We will arrange a Vanuatu passport while you sail
We will compare the donation and the fund for your plans and schedule signatures around your stays.
The spouse’s first question: will we lose our Armenian passports?
Before talking about documents, Lilit asked the question that worried her more than money. Would they keep their Armenian citizenship?
The lawyer had checked this before starting. Armenia allows dual citizenship, so the couple keep their Armenian passports. They continue to enter Armenia as citizens, and nothing changes for their flat or bank accounts in Yerevan.
It is not always like that for their marina neighbours. For a couple from Kazakhstan the answer would be different: Kazakhstan does not recognise dual citizenship. That is why the lawyer always starts with the laws of the passport country and only then moves on to the programme.
Explaining a life without a fixed address to due diligence
The most unusual part of the application was the address. The form has a line for place of residence. The couple live on a catamaran that has berthed in twelve marinas in three countries over five years.
The lawyer suggested not inventing anything but showing life as it is. The official address remained the flat in Yerevan where Ashot is registered. The form was accompanied by a short letter describing how the couple live and the documents that confirm it.
The spouse had the documents. She had kept everything: berth rental agreements, marina receipts, the logbook, the catamaran’s registration. From them we built a table showing where the vessel had been berthed, and for how many months, over the past five years.
Police certificates
Police certificates are required from the country of citizenship. The lawyer separately asked the licensed agent whether certificates from Malaysia and Thailand were needed. The couple had never been residents of either country and stayed on tourist stamps. The agent replied that the Armenian certificates and the berth table would be enough.
Our representative in Yerevan obtained the Armenian police certificates under a power of attorney, had them apostilled and sent them by courier.
A company share, a catamaran and a flat for rent
Due diligence always looks at where the money comes from. The couple’s story was clear but stretched over five years.
The money came from selling the company share. The spouse found the sale agreement, the partners’ payments and the tax paid in the archive in one evening. Her accounting habits paid off.
The spending was harder. Part of the money went on the catamaran, and in the statements it looked like a large transfer to a seller in Thailand. We attached the vessel purchase agreement and registration so due diligence would not have to ask where the money went.
The third income source, rent from the Yerevan flat, was confirmed with the lease and bank statements. The Armenian documents were apostilled and received certified English translations. How money is checked is covered in applicant due diligence.
Calculate the cost of Vanuatu citizenship for a couple
The estimate compares the donation and the fund and shows when and how much to pay.
Signatures by courier to the island
Most papers could be signed electronically. But the programme accepts forms and declarations only with wet signatures.
Parcels reach Langkawi via the mainland, and in the rainy season delivery is often delayed. The lawyer did not send documents piecemeal. We put every page for signature into one package and sent it to the marina office.
The package took five days instead of the promised three: a storm pushed delivery back twice. The couple signed everything in one evening in the cockpit by the light of head torches, because the island had a power cut. The package went back the next morning.
The couple had the programme’s medical check at a private clinic on the island. We sent the report form to the doctor in advance so every item was completed in one visit.
One question about where the couple live
Ten days after filing, due diligence asked its only question. Where does Ashot live now, and how long does he plan to stay there?
We had expected it. The lawyer had already arranged a letter from the marina office confirming that the catamaran is berthed there until the end of the rainy season. The letter and the current berth agreement went out through the agent the next day.
There were no further questions. The five-year berth table, which the spouse had first thought unnecessary, answered everything else before anyone asked.
All the work fitted into one rainy season while the catamaran stayed in the marina.
Course of work in a BRIDGES composite example
The approval arrived during a storm
While the application waited for the Commission, life in the marina went on as usual. Ashot repaired a winch, and Lilit sorted the supplies on board and taught their Australian neighbours to make dolma with vine leaves from the local market.
Once a week the lawyer sent a short update: where the application is, what is done, whether anything is needed from the couple. The messages went to a messenger app, and the couple read them whenever they had a signal. If there was no signal for two or three days, the lawyer did not resend anything: nothing urgent was needed from them.
The approval email arrived at night, during a heavy storm over the island. Ashot read it in the cockpit while checking the mooring lines. In the morning the spouse opened a chart of the Philippines and marked the Palawan bays they would now reach.
Two days in Hong Kong for fingerprints
After approval by the Citizenship Commission, the couple paid the donation. Biometrics remained. They are given in person in one of five cities: Port Vila, Dubai, Hong Kong, Moscow or Saint Petersburg.
Hong Kong is the closest to Malaysia, and Armenian passport holders can enter it visa-free. The lawyer picked a date in the middle of the rainy season, when the couple would not be sailing anyway.
They left the catamaran in the care of their berth neighbours. In the morning the couple flew from Langkawi via Kuala Lumpur and were in Hong Kong by evening. The biometrics appointment was the next morning.
The biometrics took less than an hour: passport check, fingerprints, photo, signature. The lawyer had reminded them to bring the original Armenian passports used for the application. The couple spent the afternoon on the waterfront and were back on board a day later.
Under the plan the passports arrive by courier 1-3 weeks after biometrics. The delivery address is the same as for the signature package: the marina office. All stages are covered in Vanuatu citizenship timeline.
We will handle your documents wherever you are
We collect certificates and signatures by courier and book biometrics in a convenient city.
What the couple gets
Under this scenario the couple have Vanuatu passports 3-4 months after the first call, before the rainy season ends. The outcome is described as expected: the decision rests with the Citizenship Commission.
They keep their Armenian passports. They enter Armenia as Armenian citizens and can use their Vanuatu passports for route countries where that is easier.
The couple have already drawn next season on the chart. From Malaysia via Singapore to Borneo, then on to the Philippines and Palawan, which they twice failed to reach. No visa to arrange, and they can leave on the day the weather allows.
The route follows the wind seasons, not visa deadlines.
The couple’s plan in a BRIDGES composite example
For a long stay in Malaysia a Vanuatu passport changes nothing: the limit there is also 30 days. But a trip out for a new stamp can now include a visa-free stop in Singapore, not just Thailand.
The lawyer reminded them of one rule: enter and leave each country on the same passport. Whichever passport is shown on arrival is shown on departure.
Now the couple’s route is set by wind and weather, not by passport stamps.
Who this path suits
This story repeats for people who live on the move: sailors, digital nomads, couples who spend winter in one country and summer in another. They do not need to relocate; they need freedom to travel around a region.
A life without a fixed address does not stand in the way of an application. Due diligence needs a clear picture: where a person lives, what they live on and where their money comes from. Berth agreements, leases and statements tell that story better than any explanation.
Before starting, check the laws of your passport country. Armenia and Russia allow a second citizenship. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan do not recognise it, and for their citizens the lawyer explains the consequences first.
Similar stories: a retired couple wintering in Asia and a backup passport for a tech founder. 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.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask before deciding
01Can Vanuatu citizenship be obtained without a fixed address?
Yes. Due diligence needs a clear picture of your life: berth or rental agreements, statements and an explanation of where you live now.
02Do Armenian citizens keep their citizenship?
Yes, Armenia allows dual citizenship.
03Do we need to travel to Vanuatu?
No. Biometrics are given in person in Port Vila, Dubai, Hong Kong, Moscow or Saint Petersburg; everything else goes through the agent and couriers.
04How much is Vanuatu citizenship for a couple?
The donation is USD 155,000 including the due diligence fee. The fund is 165,000, with 50,000 returned after five years.
05When is the donation paid?
After approval by the Commission. Only the due diligence fee is paid at filing.
06Can documents be signed while sailing?
Yes. All pages for signature are sent in one courier package to a marina or port address.
07Does a Vanuatu passport cover vessel clearance in port?
No. It removes visas for the people on board; vessel clearance and customs stay the same.
08Where in Southeast Asia is a Vanuatu passport visa-free?
In this story the key ones are the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia for up to 30 days, and Hong Kong for up to 90 days.
About the author
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What to read next
Personal programme selection is conducted by Anna Kovalevskaya, Head of Legal, BRIDGES.
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