A guide to citizenship of Vanuatu:terms, cost and risks

Besides naturalisation the Citizenship Office lists several grounds: the Coconut Oil Fund (the Capital Investment Immigration Plan, Form D), the Vanuatu Development Support Program (DSP), the Vanuatu Contribution Program and the Real Estate Option Program. In practice clients are most often shown the DSP and the Coconut Oil Fund — those are the ones with a published table of government fees. Whether a particular programme is available as at the date of filing is confirmed with the licensed agent.

We count it all in — the same way as in the personal quotation. The contribution depends on the total number of applicants: under the DSP it is $130 000 for one, $150 000 for two, $165 000 for three and $180 000 for a family of four — children under 18 are inside the base family and there is nothing extra to pay for them. Under the Coconut Oil Fund a single contribution of $157 000 applies to an application of up to 4 people. Above the contribution the quotation includes the FIU fee, the birth certificate and the local ID ($1 000 per person), the biometric passports ($2 000 - $4 000 per person) and the pack of translations with the apostille up to $2 000. BRIDGES GLOBAL legal support is already included. The total: from $140 000 under the DSP for a single applicant and from $179 000 under the Fund for a family of four.

Yes. Under the Coconut Oil Fund programme $50 000 is returned after 5 years — that is the refundable part of the investment. The contribution under the DSP is not returned. The particular terms, the timing and the procedure for the return are fixed in the agreement before payment.

One application may include the applicant, the spouse, children under 18, children aged 18-25, parents and, in some cases, other dependants. The contribution is counted on the total number of people in the application: the base family is up to 4 people, and children under 18 are inside it at no extra cost. Every fifth and further applicant adds $26 500. The right to include adult children, parents and other dependants is confirmed before filing.

The filing procedure, whether attendance in person is needed, and the format of the oath and of taking the biometrics are set by the process in force and may change. We do not publish a claim of a fully remote process without confirming the current procedure as at the date of filing, and we confirm that procedure in writing before the work begins.

The applicant and the adult members of the family go through the mandatory check. Under the DSP a Financial Intelligence Unit fee of $5 000 is officially provided for. What is examined: the background, the citizenships, tax residency, the source of funds and the source of wealth, banking relationships, corporate structures, court proceedings, sanctions and PEP factors, and publications in open sources. The state authority may request further information.

The Citizenship Office separates two payments: the application fee is paid when the application is filed, and the Citizenship Fee only after the Commission approves the application. The particular payment schedule for the chosen programme is confirmed before the agreement is signed.

The Vanuatu passport gives no visa-free entry to the European Union: by Regulation (EU) 2025/11 of 19 December 2024 the country was moved to the list of states whose citizens need a visa (published in the Official Journal of the EU on 14 January 2025, in force on the twentieth day after publication). The passport does not close the road to Europe, though — it changes it: it is used to obtain residence under investment programmes. The Greek golden visa grants residence for 5 years at once with the right to renew, and similar programmes exist in Portugal and other countries. Many clients build the order exactly that way: first a quick second passport, then European status on the back of it.

Yes. Since 19 July 2023 citizens of Vanuatu need a British visa to enter. The Government of the United Kingdom linked that decision directly to the citizenship-by-investment programme.

By itself, no. Citizenship does not end tax obligations in other countries and does not make the applicant a tax resident of Vanuatu automatically. Tax residency is determined by the law of the particular countries and by the facts — where you live, where the centre of your interests lies, how many days you spend. The VAT rate in Vanuatu is 15%.

A biometric Vanuatu passport is issued for 10 years to an adult and for 5 to a child. The country has issued biometric passports to the ICAO standard since August 2024, and the old five-year documents are no longer issued. When it expires an application is made for a new passport: a machine-readable document is not extended in the same booklet. The citizenship itself has no expiry and passes to children by descent.

The practice on accepting applications from particular citizenships has changed. No current official list of restrictions exists in the public domain, so we do not publish a list of countries. Whether the programme is available on your citizenship is confirmed in writing with the licensed agent before the documents are prepared and before the agreement is signed.

Yes. The decision is taken by the Citizenship Commission of Vanuatu. The official procedure expressly provides that the Commission may defer or refuse an application if the applicant has not produced a required valid document or information, or has not met the requirements. A complete file does not mean automatic approval, and no adviser can guarantee the outcome.

The set depends on where the capital came from. Usually it is the contracts and documents for the sale of a stake or an asset, dividend resolutions and statements, income certificates and tax returns, documents on an inheritance or a gift, bank statements for the period required with explanations of large transactions, and evidence of the ownership structure of the business. The first consultation takes place without handing over any documents.