Vanuatu · Residency by investment
Vanuatu Residence Visa (investor and self-funded categories)
Administered by the Department of Immigration and Passport Services. Categories and thresholds are published inconsistently. Most figures in circulation come from agents rather than the department, so treat the numbers below as indicative.
Residency is the honest way to actually use Vanuatu's zero-tax system, because it requires being there. That is exactly what breaks residency elsewhere. It is also the route almost nobody sells, because the commissions are in the passport.
Qualifying routes
investment in Vanuatu property or agricultural land. Agent sources cite a government fee of roughly VT 300,000 (~USD 2,500) per applicant.
approximately VT 10,000,000 in physical property or land. This figure is agent-sourced and approximate.
certified income of at least VT 250,000 per month (VT 500,000 including a spouse). This must actually be deposited into a Vanuatu bank account each month.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $100k
- Total landed cost
- Highly variable. The self-funded route has no capital requirement but demands demonstrable, repatriated monthly income. The investor routes require real property acquisition in a very thin market.
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Timeline
- 2–6 months (not reliably published)
- Physical presence
- Not clearly published for renewal. Permits are issued for terms between 1 and 10 years depending on category.
- Family
- SpouseDependent children
- Permanent residency
- long-term renewable permits rather than a true permanent status
- Citizenship
- Naturalisation exists in law, but it is slow, discretionary and rarely used by foreigners. In practice, those wanting a Vanuatu passport buy the DSP instead.
- Language test
- not meaningfully applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- Clean criminal record.Medical clearance.Evidence of investment or of qualifying income.A Vanuatu bank account for the self-funded category.
- Published thresholds are unreliable. Almost every number in circulation traces back to agent marketing, not to the immigration department. Verify directly before committing.
- Land in Vanuatu is leasehold in practice for foreigners, and the market is illiquid. Exit can take years.
- The self-funded route requires money to physically land in a Vanuatu bank account each month. That is a real constraint given the state of correspondent banking there.
- Residency here does not fix the passport problem. Vanuatu residency paired with a weak passport is still a weak travel position.
- Cyclone and climate exposure is material, and it affects the insurability of any property you acquire.