Vanuatu Citizenship for a Family from Yekaterinburg: A Preliminary Check Before Payment

A family from Yekaterinburg and one question about the past

This is a composite example: the story is built from typical enquiries from entrepreneurs’ families, and no real client is described; the names are invented. Igor is 52, a Russian citizen living in Yekaterinburg. His company supplies building materials across the Urals.

Elena is 49, a dentist who owns a small clinic. Their son is 19 and in his second year at a university in Belgrade.

The family wanted a second passport as a backup for all three. Especially for their son Timur: he plans to stay in Europe after his studies, and his parents wanted him to have a second travel document.

At first Timur was against it. It was exam season, and he did not want to gather certificates. His father called him by video and promised that Timur would deal with the lawyer himself and only about his own documents. That settled it.

Igor did not ask how much the programme costs. He asked what due diligence would find about him.

Daniel KovachSenior International Law Attorney

A preliminary check before any contract or payment

Every adult applicant is checked by Vanuatu’s financial intelligence unit: identity, criminal record, sanctions lists, publications, source of funds. This family has three adults, and each was checked.

We started with our own check, before signing a contract. Our specialist went through public sanctions lists, court databases and publications on each family member. Igor also walked us through twenty years of his business.

Three things came up. The bankruptcy of Igor’s former company in 2020 and an article about it in a local newspaper. A traffic fine for Timur, long since paid. And the spouse’s clinic, registered in her name but set up with money from Igor.

The lawyer went through the findings with the family. Timur’s fine affects nothing. The clinic money needs to be shown with statements of transfers from Igor to Elena. The bankruptcy needs a separate document package, and with it the application can go ahead. We saw no obstacles and only then signed the contract.

For three people the fund was better value than the donation

For a family of three the donation costs USD 170,000 including the due diligence fee. The coconut oil fund costs 165,000 for a family of up to four, with 50,000 returned after five years.

The choice was simple: the fund is cheaper from the start. But the fund has a feature the lawyer explained straight away. The money goes in as one payment when the full package is filed, before the Commission decides. That is exactly why the preliminary check mattered so much for this family. How the two programmes compare is covered in donation or fund.

How we explained a five-year-old bankruptcy

In 2020 Igor’s company traded finishing materials from Europe. When borders closed, supplies stopped, but the loan for the warehouse remained. A year later the company was declared bankrupt.

For due diligence a bankruptcy is not a verdict in itself. What matters is whether the procedure ended lawfully, whether debts remain and whether any claims were brought against the director personally. All three questions had to be answered with documents.

Igor found the arbitration court’s decision closing the bankruptcy proceedings. We asked the former bankruptcy trustee for a letter confirming that no personal claims were brought against Igor. A registry extract showing the company was struck off was ordered on the tax service website.

The local newspaper article

At first Igor suggested saying nothing about the article: five years had passed, and the newspaper had long since closed. The lawyer showed him that the article still comes up in the first line of search results for his surname. If due diligence found it on its own while the application said nothing, the question would no longer be about the bankruptcy but about trust in the whole application.

Due diligence would find the 2020 article under his surname within minutes. We did not wait for the question. Igor wrote a short explanation: what happened to the company, how creditors were paid and what he does now. A translation of the article went next to it.

How applicant due diligence works is covered in applicant due diligence.

A son in Belgrade and certificates from two countries

Timur is 19, and for the programme he is a separate adult applicant. He needs his own form, police certificates and documents showing what he lives on.

A Russian certificate was needed in any case. The lawyer asked for a second one from Serbia: Timur has lived there for almost two years on a temporary residence permit for study.

Timur ordered the Serbian certificate himself at the police station near his dormitory. It was issued a week later, in Serbian. But his surname was written in Serbian Latin script with one letter different from his passport. Timur went back to the station with his passport, and the certificate was reissued in two days. We had it translated into English and attached a university letter confirming he is a full-time student.

Timur has no income of his own. His parents pay for his studies and housing, confirmed by two years of transfer statements. For due diligence the picture is clear: a student living on family money, whose origin is shown in his father’s documents.

The spouse’s clinic and the money to open it

Elena has run her clinic since 2017. Igor provided the money for equipment and renovation, while the clinic is registered in her name.

The lawyer asked for that money trail to be shown with documents. There were statements of transfers from Igor’s account to Elena’s and the premises lease. The clinic’s accountant gathered three years of accounts and the spouse’s income statements.

The lawyer also explained an important detail to the family. Under Russian law, money earned during a marriage is joint property of the spouses. So no gift agreement was needed: the transfer from Igor’s account to Elena’s was a movement of joint family money, and statements plus the marriage certificate are enough to show it.

We attached a short explanation to the spouse’s package: the start-up money came from Igor, and since then the clinic has run on its own revenue. Her income looked separate from Igor’s business, with a clear starting point.

Filing, the fund payment and one due diligence question

Igor wanted to make the fund transfer on a Friday, before the weekend. The lawyer asked him to move it to Monday and warn the bank in advance: a large payment to Vanuatu at the end of the week would most likely be held for review, and the money would sit idle all weekend. On Monday morning Igor sent the bank the agent’s letter with the invoice, and the transfer went through the same day.

Once the packages for all three were ready, Igor transferred USD 165,000 to the fund in one payment, and we filed the application through the licensed agent.

Two weeks later due diligence asked one question: did the bankrupt company’s creditors have any claims that remained unpaid? The lawyer sent the trustee’s letter and the page of the court decision stating that the register of claims was closed. There were no further questions.

Biometrics in Dubai during the winter holidays

A month later the approval letter arrived. Biometrics remained. They are given in person in one of five cities: Port Vila, Dubai, Hong Kong, Moscow or Saint Petersburg.

The parents could have gone to Moscow, but their son Timur was in Belgrade. The family was planning to meet during the winter holidays anyway and chose Dubai: Russian citizens need no visa there. The lawyer booked all three for the same morning.

Timur flew in from Belgrade the evening before, the parents from Yekaterinburg via Moscow. In the morning all three came to the centre with a folder the lawyer had prepared in advance: passports, the approval letter and a printed booking for one time slot.

It took about an hour for all three. After biometrics the family went to the beach, and a week later they flew home: the parents to Yekaterinburg, Timur to Belgrade. Under the plan the passports arrive by courier 1-3 weeks later. All stages are covered in Vanuatu citizenship timeline.

What the family gets

In this scenario the Commission approved the application, and Vanuatu passports for all three arrive 3-4 months after the first message. In a real application the decision and timelines depend on the Citizenship Commission.

In five years USD 50,000 will be returned from the fund. The couple have already decided it will go towards their son Timur’s first home deposit after his studies.

All three keep their Russian citizenship. Each will notify the Interior Ministry of the second citizenship within 60 days; the lawyer prepared the notifications in advance.

Timur, who at first did not want to gather certificates during exams, was the first to ask whether a Vanuatu passport would let him fly to London without a visa. The lawyer replied that the UK requires a visa for this passport, while Hong Kong and Singapore do not. Timur promised himself a trip to Singapore after graduation.

The 2020 article still comes up under Igor’s surname. But now there is a document package that explains that story to any bank or reviewer.

Due diligence is not only for flawless biographies. It is passed by stories that are explained with documents before anyone asks.

Daniel KovachSenior International Law Attorney

Who this path suits

This story repeats for entrepreneurs’ families with a long business history: closed companies, old publications, court cases, transfers between family members.

If you choose the fund, a preliminary check matters especially: money goes into the fund before the Commission decides. It is better to learn about questions over your biography in advance.

If the application includes adult children who study or live abroad, certificates will also be needed from their country of residence.

Similar stories: a family wealth manager and a namesake on a list and a manufacturer exporting to Egypt. 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.

BRIDGES analysis on this topic: refusals under the programme, 2021-2026.