Vanuatu · Citizenship by investment
Development Support Programme
Open and operating under the Citizenship Act [CAP 112]. The contribution for a single applicant is USD 130,000 as at late 2025, verified through the government-designated programme site rather than a primary legal instrument. See confidence. Due diligence and process were tightened materially in 2024–25. Biometrics must now be submitted in person in Vanuatu or at an overseas representation office (July 2025), and ID card and birth certificate fees of about USD 1,000 per person were added.
This is the honesty test for the whole region. Vanuatu is still widely sold on the promise of visa-free Schengen access. That access does not exist, and it has not existed since February 2025. The EU did not suspend it temporarily. It moved Vanuatu from Annex II to Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 through Regulation (EU) 2025/11, which made the visa requirement permanent. It did so explicitly because of this citizenship programme. Vanuatu is the first country ever to have an EU visa waiver fully and permanently revoked over a CBI scheme.
Qualifying routes
A non-refundable contribution, approximately USD 150,000 for a couple and USD 180,000 for a family of four, before due diligence.
A smaller contribution paired with a USD 50,000 bond, stated to be redeemable after 5 years. It is structurally more complex and less established than the DSP. Verify redemption terms independently.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $130k
- Total landed cost
- About USD 135,500 all-in for a single applicant, made up of a USD 130,000 contribution plus roughly USD 5,500 in due diligence fees. Figure around USD 155,500 for a couple and USD 185,500 for a family of four. That is before agent and legal fees, and before the roughly USD 1,000 per person ID and birth certificate charge added in July 2025.
- Route type
- Citizenship by investment
- Timeline
- 1–4 months (Genuinely among the fastest programmes in the world. The in-person biometrics requirement introduced in July 2025 has added a travel step, and that has lengthened some files.)
- Physical presence
- There is no physical presence requirement to hold or maintain citizenship. Biometrics must be given in person, either in Vanuatu or at an overseas representation office. Tax residency, if you want it, requires roughly 183 days in the country plus real ties there.
- Family
- SpouseDependent childrenDependent parents
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable. This route grants citizenship directly, so there is no residency stage to pass through.
- Citizenship
- Immediate. Citizenship is the product itself.
- Language test
- None
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- 18 or overa clean criminal record and successful FIU due diligence, covering Interpol, sanctions, PEP and global blacklist screeningevidence of source of fundsin-person biometrics in Vanuatu or at an overseas representation office (since July 2025)oath of allegiancenationals of certain countries are ineligible. The restricted list changes and must be checked at the time of application.
- THE SCHENGEN CLAIM IS FALSE. Vanuatu citizens require a visa for the Schengen Area. Partial suspension came on 3 March 2022, was extended, and the permanent visa requirement applies from 3 February 2025 under Regulation (EU) 2025/11. Any adviser still selling Schengen access is either years out of date or simply not telling the truth.
- The United Kingdom removed visa-free access in July 2023, also citing the CBI scheme directly. Ireland has done the same. The three destinations that once made this passport worth buying are all closed now.
- The passport now carries 87 visa-free destinations (Henley, June 2026), and that number has been falling. Buy it for what it is today, and assume further erosion. The EU's June 2025 visa suspension mechanism explicitly targets CBI schemes that lack genuine ties.
- The OECD flagged this programme in 2018 as potentially high-risk to CRS integrity. Banks and exchanges apply enhanced due diligence to Vanuatu CBI passports, and account opening on this document alone is often refused. It does not solve your banking problem.
- Vanuatu has appeared on the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. A Vanuatu passport paired with a Vanuatu address is a combination that draws scrutiny rather than deflecting it.
- Citizenship obtained this way can be revoked by the granting state. In a tightening environment, that revocation risk is not theoretical.
- Zero tax only matters if you actually break residency elsewhere. A Vanuatu passport changes nothing about the tax residency of someone still living in a CFC/CRS country.
- The CIIP bond redemption after 5 years depends on the counterparty holding up its end. Treat the USD 50,000 as money at risk, not as a deposit sitting safely in reserve.