Vanuatu citizenship by investment, the 2026 guide.

Vanuatu citizenship by investment is still the cheapest and quickest citizenship programme of any size on the market: a government contribution of US$130,000 for a single applicant under the Development Support Program, a file handled entirely from abroad, and a passport in roughly two to four months. Nobody has to visit the islands, before or after.

What it buys has changed, and most guides online have not caught up. Since 3 February 2025 every Vanuatu passport holder needs a visa for the Schengen Area, the first time the European Union has ever taken a country off its visa-free list. The United Kingdom has required a visa since 2023. The passport that once sold on European travel is now a regional document: strong across Asia, the Pacific, the Gulf and Russia, weak everywhere a Western buyer tends to assume. This guide sets out what Vanuatu citizenship costs in 2026 once fees are added, what the passport actually opens, which parts of the programme have moved in the last eighteen months, and the narrow set of clients for whom it is still the right answer.

At a glance

The Vanuatu programme, in six numbers.

2025 and 2026

Vanuatu citizenship by investment in 2026, what has actually changed.

Few programmes have moved as much in so short a time. Separating what is in force from what was only reported matters more here than almost anywhere else in the market.

The European decision, precisely

The EU first partly suspended Vanuatu's visa waiver in May 2022, for passports issued from 25 May 2015, the year the investor programmes took off. It then went further than it has ever gone with any country. Regulation (EU) 2025/11, adopted in December 2024, removed Vanuatu from the visa-free list altogether, with effect from 3 February 2025. The reasons the Commission gave were specific to the programme: a very low refusal rate, no residence requirement, short processing, and grants to people listed in Interpol databases. The consequence is general. A Vanuatu citizen born in Port Vila needs a Schengen visa today exactly as an investor does.

That is the point to take away about risk in this market. Visa-free access is granted bilaterally, and it can be withdrawn from a whole nationality because of the way one programme is run. The Caribbean programmes now face the same scrutiny under the EU's 2025 suspension mechanism, and our Caribbean comparison covers where each of them stands.

Investment options

Three routes, one that most clients take.

Vanuatu runs more than one investor programme under its Citizenship Act. For an applicant outside China, three are relevant.

A fourth programme, the Vanuatu Contribution Program, has historically been sold in Greater China through a single designated agent and is not marketed to other nationalities. The older Vanuatu Economic Rehabilitation Program closed in 2016.

Why the DSP is the default

The DSP is the simplest file and the one with the longest track record. There is no asset to hold, no fund to exit after five years, and no developer between you and the government. The CIIP looks cheaper on paper because part of the money is redeemable, but the redeemable portion sits in small agricultural funds for four to five years, and the programme's suspension in 2025 showed that its terms can change while a file is open. For most families the certainty of the DSP is worth the difference.

Cost

Vanuatu citizenship cost, with every fee added.

The headline contribution is the number every agent quotes. The cost of a passport in hand is that number plus due diligence, the national ID and birth certificate fees introduced in 2025, and professional fees. The government's own fee page was offline when we checked, so the figures below are the ones published consistently across the market, with the ranges where sources disagree.

The CIIP, after the April 2025 increase, is quoted at US$115,000 for a sole applicant, US$60,000 for a spouse and US$55,000 for each additional adult, alongside the redeemable fund investment. Agents also sell it as packages of US$165,000 to US$170,000. The Real Estate Option is priced per project.

Travel

The Vanuatu passport, where it opens and where it stops.

Henley's 2026 index puts the Vanuatu passport at roughly 88 to 90 destinations without a visa arranged in advance, mid-table and well below its pre-2025 position. What survives is regional, and for some clients exactly what they need.

The full list, region by region, is in our Vanuatu visa-free countries guide. Our own count there differs slightly from Henley's because we include territories.

Benefits

Vanuatu citizenship benefits, stated honestly.

• Speed. A complete DSP file typically reaches a passport in two to four months, still among the fastest of any programme.
• No residence, no visit. There is no requirement to live in or travel to Vanuatu to obtain or keep citizenship. The oath and biometrics are handled offshore.
• Price. At US$130,000, the lowest entry point of any established programme. Only São Tomé and Príncipe and Nauru's promotional rate sit below it, both newer and less tested.
• No personal income tax. Vanuatu levies no personal income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. Citizenship on its own does not change your tax position anywhere else; that depends on where you live.
• Citizenship for life, and for children born later. Children born after the grant can be added at a nominal cost.
• Dual citizenship permitted. Since a constitutional amendment in 2012. Whether you keep your existing nationality depends on your home country's law.

Two limits belong in the same list. Investor citizens cannot vote or stand for office in Vanuatu. And the passport carries a reputation, covered below, that some banks and border officers price in.

Eligibility

Vanuatu citizenship by investment requirements, and who can be included.

• Main applicant: aged 18 or over, with a clean criminal record, not under investigation, and not a security risk.
• Source of funds: lawful and documented. Many agents also cite a net-worth threshold; the Financial Intelligence Unit's check is on the origin of the money.
• Health: a medical certificate free of serious contagious disease.
• Restricted nationalities: a list exists, with an exception for applicants who have lived outside their country of nationality for a set period. Confirm your nationality before paying anything. The March 2026 memo adding Russia and Sudan was withdrawn; some agent pages still repeat it.

Dependants

A spouse; children under 18; children up to about 25 in full-time education and financially dependent; and dependent parents above an age threshold that sources give as 50 or 65. Police certificates are needed from age 16. The exact age limits and the fee for each additional dependant are the two points on which published sources disagree most, so we confirm them against the current regulations for each family before quoting.

Documents

The file runs in two stages. First, for the due-diligence clearance: nomination form, certified passport and ID copies, police clearance, CV, birth certificate, and marriage certificate for a spouse. Then, for approval: the full nomination form, medical certificate, photographs, asset report, bank reference, six months of stamped bank statements, proof of address, passport application form and the programme forms. Documents not in English need certified translation.

Process

How to get Vanuatu citizenship, step by step.

1. Eligibility and route. We check nationality, family composition and source of funds, and confirm whether the DSP or another route fits.
2. Due diligence. Stage-one documents and the due-diligence fee go to the Financial Intelligence Unit, which checks with Interpol and the immigration department. Clearance has typically taken one to three weeks.
3. Full application. The complete file goes to the Citizenship Commission with the contribution, paid in tranches or in full.
4. Commission decision. The Commission sits regularly and decides in a single sitting once a file is complete.
5. Oath and biometrics. Taken remotely or at a designated collection point outside Vanuatu.
6. Certificate and passport. The certificate of citizenship is issued, followed by the passport and, since 2025, the national ID card.

Agents advertise 30 to 60 days. From a complete file, two to four months to a passport in hand is the realistic expectation, and the period after the 2026 regulation changes was slower than that.

Reputation

The risks, and why they matter for this passport.

Vanuatu's programmes fund a substantial share of the national budget, and that has made them both durable and closely watched. The record includes a 2023 Commission of Inquiry, revocations after foreign sanctions, and repeated press coverage of passports granted to people wanted elsewhere, most recently the government's contradictory statements in September 2026 over a high-profile citizen, which we do not treat as settled either way.

What this means in practice: a Vanuatu passport is a legitimate second nationality, but it is not a document that opens doors on its name. Expect enhanced questions from some banks, and do not hold it as your only travel document if Europe matters. The upside is that Vanuatu has never had Schengen access to lose a second time, and its remaining access is built on regional relationships rather than on European goodwill.

Who it suits

Who should buy a Vanuatu passport, and who should not.

Alternatives

Vanuatu against the alternatives, side by side.

The gap that matters is between the Pacific and the Caribbean. For roughly US$70,000 more, Dominica still carries Schengen access, with its own 2026 complications. Nauru is cheaper than Vanuatu inside its promotional window and reaches broadly the same places. Every programme still running is listed in our guide to citizenship by investment worldwide.

The country

Life in Vanuatu, for those who do go.

Most investor citizens never visit, but the country behind the passport is worth knowing. Vanuatu is an archipelago of around eighty islands in the South Pacific, roughly three hours by air from Brisbane and Sydney. Port Vila, on Efate, is the capital and commercial centre; English, French and Bislama are the official languages, and the legal system draws on English common law. The economy rests on tourism, agriculture and the citizenship programmes themselves.

FAQ

Vanuatu citizenship, frequently asked questions.

Updates

What we changed, and when.

• 13 Oct 2026: Guide rewritten for 2026: full cost with the 2025 ID fees, the EU's removal of Vanuatu from the visa-free list, the CIIP suspension and price rise, the March 2026 regulation amendments and the withdrawn Russia memo.
• 17 Mar 2025: CIIP suspension noted.