Vanuatu · Citizenship by investment
Development Support Programme
Open and operating under the Citizenship Act [CAP 112]. 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 'visa-free Schengen access.' That access does not exist and has not since February 2025. The EU did not suspend it temporarily — it moved Vanuatu from Annex II to Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 by Regulation (EU) 2025/11, making the visa requirement permanent, and 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
non-refundable contribution; approximately USD 150,000 for a couple and USD 180,000 for a family of four, before due diligence
smaller contribution paired with a USD 50,000 bond stated to be redeemable after 5 years; 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 (USD 130,000 contribution plus roughly USD 5,500 due diligence), around USD 155,500 for a couple and USD 185,500 for a family of four, before agent and legal fees and the ~USD 1,000 per person ID/birth certificate charges added in July 2025
- Timeline
- 1–4 months — genuinely among the fastest in the world; the in-person biometrics requirement introduced in July 2025 has added a travel step that lengthens some files
- Physical presence
- None to hold or maintain citizenship. Biometrics must be given in person in Vanuatu or at an overseas representation office. Tax residency, if wanted, requires roughly 183 days plus real ties.
- Family
- spousedependent childrendependent parents
- Permanent residency
- not applicable — this route confers citizenship directly, bypassing residency
- Citizenship
- immediate — citizenship is the product
- Language test
- none
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- 18 or overclean criminal record and successful FIU due diligence (Interpol, sanctions, PEP and global blacklist screening)evidence 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 lying.
- The United Kingdom removed visa-free access in July 2023, also expressly citing the CBI scheme. Ireland has likewise gone. The three destinations that made this passport worth buying are all closed.
- The passport now carries 87 visa-free destinations (Henley, June 2026) and 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 lacking 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 banking.
- Vanuatu has appeared on the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. A Vanuatu passport plus a Vanuatu address is a combination that attracts scrutiny rather than deflecting it.
- Citizenship obtained this way is revocable by the granting state and, in a tightening environment, revocation risk is not theoretical.
- Zero tax is only useful 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 performing. Treat the USD 50,000 as at risk, not as a deposit.