Vanuatu Citizenship in 2026: A Case Study—What Remains of the Passport Bought for Schengen

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What Exactly Is Sold: Price, Timeline, and Account Balance Requirement

Vanuatu citizenship is offered under two options: a non-refundable contribution from $130,000 and an investment in a cocoa fund from $165,000. Applicants must also demonstrate an account balance of at least $250,000. All three figures come from publications by licensed representatives of the Vanuatu citizenship program; no public government price list exists to verify them against—the reason for this is explained in the next section.

Expense Category	Amount According to Representatives' Publications
Non-refundable contribution to Vanuatu's development fund	From $130,000 per applicant, $20,000 per spouse, $15,000 per relative
Investment in cocoa and coconut oil fund	From $165,000 per family of up to four people; share of $50,000 redeems after 5 years
Due diligence check	$5,500 per application
Translation and notarization	From $2,000
Identity card and certificate issuance fee	$1,000 per applicant
Biometric submission	$1,000 in Vanuatu; $3,000 at a Vanuatu overseas office or upon consular visit

The range of timelines for Vanuatu citizenship is wider than the range of prices: "from 2 months," "1–3 months," "3+ months," "2–4 months," "about 6 months"—five different figures from five representatives of the same program. A promised timeline is the first thing to grab hold of in any case of lost money, and in Vanuatu citizenship, it varies threefold among sellers of the same service.

The Program Has No Accessible Official Source

No official Vanuatu website dedicated to citizenship by investment was accessible as of September 3, 2026. This can be verified in minutes and explains why all figures above come from intermediaries.

Address	What Happens When You Try to Access It
citizenship.gov.vu	domain does not resolve to an address
dsp.gov.vu	domain does not resolve to an address
gov.vu	certificate verification error, page not returned
parliament.gov.vu	certificate verification error, page not returned

The only regulatory reference cited by the program representatives themselves is Chapter 112 of the Citizenship Act and subordinate legislation from 2023. We were unable to verify the text through official government publication in this search: the official portal does not return pages, and the citizenship commission has no separate website.

The practical consequence for the buyer is straightforward. Any claim about the program—price, timeline, family composition, list of visa-free countries—comes from someone who profits from that claim. This is not an accusation of bad faith: representatives may be accurate. But there is no way to verify their word, and the entire structure of trust rests on the intermediary's reputation rather than on government disclosure.

Comparison with a neighboring program shows how this differs from the norm. The citizenship by investment unit of Saint Kitts and Nevis publishes all four options' rates on its website, admission criteria, a commitment to response timelines, and a list of agents prohibited from representing the program. Where a government maintains its website, an intermediary's claim can be verified with one link. In the case of Vanuatu, there is nothing to verify against—and this is not a minor formatting issue but a characteristic that defines the entire subsequent analysis.

Myth: "the program is government-run, so it's all transparent." A program's government character and the accessibility of its terms are different things. The contribution does go to a state fund, but the conditions under which Vanuatu citizenship is granted are learned by the reader from the person selling the service, not from the person making the decision.

Timeline: How Visa-Free Schengen Access Disappeared

As of February 4, 2023, citizens of Vanuatu have had no visa-free entry to the Schengen Area. This entry was why the passport was bought until 2022. The process took four steps and three years.

What Exactly Happened	When	Who Was Affected
First restriction: agreement suspended in part	March 2022	ordinary passport holders issued from May 25, 2015 onward
Suspension given a deadline—nine months	April 2022	same group, during dialogue with country authorities
Suspension became complete	November 2022, effective February 4, 2023	all citizens regardless of document issue date
Visa exemption terminated	December 12, 2024	country removed from the list of countries where a visa is not required

The first three steps are suspensions: measures temporary by design, introduced for a period and extended. The fourth step is different in nature: the country has been removed from the list, and now a visa requirement is the default state, while return requires a separate procedure and separate decision. A passport holder should know this for one reason: automatic reinstatement cannot be expected.

The speed of the procedure is also telling. From the first restriction to the complete one—eleven months. From complete restriction to final removal from the list—approximately two more years. Three years for the entire path, and throughout this time the passport was still being sold.

Who Exactly Lost Visa-Free Access

The restriction affected all citizens of Vanuatu without exception—including those born in the country who never bought any passport. The first measure was selective: it applied to ordinary passports issued from May 25, 2015 onward, that is, from the date when, as stated in the Council's decision, the number of approved investment applications began to grow noticeably. Full suspension removed this boundary.

This answers the question "who is responsible" in the broadest sense: the consequences of the scheme fell on people who had nothing to do with it. For the buyer, the conclusion is different and more narrow: the country cannot guarantee preservation of visa-free status because the decision is made by someone else.

It follows from this that certain things cannot be purchased together with a passport. Vanuatu citizenship is a status granted by the state and valid as long as the state has not revoked it. Visa-free entry is not a property of this status but a decision of each receiving party, which reviews it by its own procedure and on its own timeline. Selling Vanuatu citizenship while promising visa-free entry along with it was possible only until the receiving party intervened.

Why This Decision Was Made: Stated Justification

The Council named six grounds, and none of them concern policy—all six concern the program's structure itself. They are convenient to read as three pairs.

First pair, on scale and filtering. The country's passport office reported issuing over 10,500 passports by March 2021, and at this volume the share of rejected applications remained extremely low. Many issued documents with almost no rejection—the first thing the Council deemed abnormal.

Second pair, on quality of vetting. Status was granted to people listed in Interpol databases, and information exchange with countries of which applicants were citizens was not set up as a system. Verification that does not cross-check against the source of the applicant's origin ceases to be verification.

Third pair, on connection to territory. The program required no presence in the country before or after issuance, and review took little time. Citizenship with no required connection to the state and issued in weeks is precisely the structure that the European mechanism describes as a risk.

Three of the six points—short timeline, no residency requirements, and low rejection rate—are sold to the same audience as advantages. This is the mechanics of the case: a feature for which the buyer pays a premium is named as grounds for restriction.

The most striking confirmation is the fate of one number. The Council named "over 10,500 issued passports" in the list of causes; in one representative's material, this exact figure appears in the first paragraph as an achievement: "more than 10,500 people have successfully obtained investment citizenship of Vanuatu." The same number serves as proof of reliability in a sales pitch and as grounds for restriction in a decision.

Second Narrowing: United Kingdom, July 2023

The United Kingdom introduced a visa requirement for citizens of Vanuatu on July 19, 2023—immediately and directly citing the investment citizenship program as the reason. The rule extended to tourist trips as well.

The transition window was short: those who booked a trip before 15:00 BST on July 19 could enter without a visa until 15:00 BST on August 16, 2023. Those who booked later needed a visa regardless of their travel date. Tourists already in the country could complete their visit, but a visa was required for the next entry.

The timeline is important: the British measure came five months after the European one. Two of the largest destinations for which Caribbean and Pacific passports are purchased closed within one year.

In the same year, the program did not stop and did not become cheaper. This is a separate observation of the case: the Vanuatu citizenship market responded not by reducing demand but by changing its argument—instead of Schengen, the sales pitch shifted to speed of processing and accessibility for those rejected by other programs.

"121 Visa-Free Countries" and What Stands Behind This Number

The number of visa-free countries in the program's advertising and the number in the material's own table differ threefold. Verification takes one scroll of the page.

What Is Claimed	What the Material's Own Table Shows
"visa-free travel to 121 countries"	visa-free—48 countries
—	electronic visa—47 countries
—	visa on arrival—26 countries
—	visa required—75 countries

The sum equals exactly 121: "visa-free" includes electronic visas and visas on arrival. This is not a counting error but a different meaning of the word. For travel planning, the distinction is significant: an electronic visa requires an application, payment, and approval, while a visa on arrival depends on a border officer's decision.

The number, moreover, is not a single one. Four representatives of the same program cite 121, 96, 94, and 90 countries—a spread of thirty-one countries when describing the same document. None of the four is accompanied by a measurement date and counting methodology, and the only published table yields 48.

In the same table, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, and Estonia are marked as "visa required." The table does not dispute the Council's decision—it simply sits on a page titled "visa-free travel to 121 countries."

Bypassing Restrictions via a Vanuatu Passport: What This Is and What It Is Not

Three representatives from those analyzed directly offer using Vanuatu citizenship to apply for European programs closed to citizens of Russia. The wording nearly matches: the passport is called a way to obtain a residence permit in the European Union, "even if the selected country does not accept applications from citizens of the investor's country of origin."

What needs to be distinguished here. The right to submit an application is determined by the receiving program, not the country that issued the passport, and is checked by its own admission criteria—where it publishes them. Caribbean units, for example, evaluate an applicant's existing citizenship as a separate admission criterion, and possession of a third passport does not override this check. We did not verify claims about the viability of such a route: it relates to the practice of third countries and requires separate analysis for each program.

What Is Not Refunded If the Application Is Rejected

Due diligence checking is paid before a decision is made and does not depend on its outcome—this is $5,500 per application plus associated fees. The investment contribution is structured differently: a quarter of the amount is paid upon submission, the remaining three-quarters within 90 days of approval.

Payment	When It Is Paid	What Happens If Rejected
Due diligence check, $5,500	before review	not refunded
Translation and notarization, from $2,000	before submission	not refunded
Document fees, $1,000 per applicant	during the process	not refunded
First quarter of contribution	upon application submission	refund procedure not described in publications
Remaining three-quarters	within 90 days of approval	not paid if no approval

The payment structure protects the main amount but does not protect against loss of due diligence fees and document fees. For a family of four, the non-refundable portion adds up from due diligence, translations, and document fees and totals in the tens of thousands of dollars—even though the decision on the application has not yet been made. And this is precisely why the promise of a "guaranteed result" is economically meaningless: you can only guarantee what you decide yourself, and the decision is made by someone other than the representative.

Who Makes the Decision and Who Is Responsible for What

An investor cannot submit an application directly: documents go through a representative, an in-country agent, financial intelligence, a screening committee, and a citizenship commission. Responsibility is distributed along this chain, and no link in it promises a result.

Link	What It Does
Licensed representative	prepares documents and submits the application on behalf of the investor
Program agent in Vanuatu	transfers documents to government authorities
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)	initial vetting of applicant and family
Screening committee	reviews the application
Citizenship commission	issues decision and naturalization certificate

Notably, the most visible market participant states this directly in its FAQ section: the representative cannot guarantee passport issuance and a minimum timeline, and a promise of a passport in one month is named a possible sign of fraud. This statement appears on the same page where the heading states "from 2 months."

Myth: "we were guaranteed a timeline and result in writing." A written guarantee of timeline from an intermediary is an obligation from someone who does not make the decision. Legally, it cannot bind the government authority; economically, it means only a return of part of the fee upon failure, if such a condition exists in the contract at all.

What the Law Requires From a Russian Citizen

A second nationality is not prohibited by law but requires filing a notification with the Interior Ministry within 60 days of acquisition; if the person is outside Russia, the period begins from the next entry. Failure to file the notification is described as a criminal offense in the penal code, and violation of the filing procedure is an administrative offense. Our detailed analysis of both provisions, with deadlines and procedures, is in a separate article.

A second provision concerns the manner of acquisition. Presenting forged, fraudulent, or invalid documents is named in Article 22 of Law No. 138-FZ as grounds for termination of Russian citizenship, with establishment of the fact referred to court. This applies not to the second passport itself but to what the applicant discloses about themselves.

Five Signs That Identify the Case in Advance

Each of the five signs can be checked before payment and requires no special knowledge.

1. Guarantee of timeline or result. The government authority makes the decision; an intermediary cannot guarantee its outcome by design.
2. Price below what the government publishes. If there is no official government price list at all, there is nothing to verify against—and this is itself a risk factor, not a neutral circumstance.
3. Reference to a "visa-free list" without a date and without an official act. Visa-free access is a decision by the receiving party; a list without a date means nothing.
4. Payment to a third party's account or in cryptocurrency directly. The contribution under the program goes to a government account; other payment routes do not relate to the program.
5. No verifiable status of the representative. Where a government maintains a list of authorized agents and a list of prohibited ones, status is verified against the list; where no list exists, the representative's word is unconfirmed.

What the Vanuatu Passport Actually Provides

Forty-eight visa-free countries and a tax regime with no income tax—this is what remains after 2023. An honest analysis of the case requires naming the part that works.

Visa-free access is available to Vanuatu passport holders for, in particular, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia via electronic approval, and a number of Caribbean countries. One becomes a Vanuatu tax resident upon staying 183 days or more per year; the country has no income tax, inheritance tax, or capital gains tax.

What the passport does not provide: visa-free entry to the Schengen Area, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. If the plan relies on these destinations, Vanuatu citizenship does not solve the problem—regardless of the amount or timeline.

There is also a circumstance rarely mentioned in sales materials: investment citizenship and citizenship by birth are not equal in all respects. In August 2026, a report was published stating that investment citizens of Vanuatu are denied voting rights; we do not have the original source for this report and therefore cite it as a market claim rather than as fact. Checking the scope of political rights before payment is worth doing separately—it is precisely the parameter that never appears in promotional tables.

How We Verify Data

The timeline of European measures is from official acts: Council Decision (EU) 2022/366 of March 3, 2022, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/693 of April 27, 2022, and Council Decision (EU) 2022/2198 of November 8, 2022. The British measure is from the UK government statement of July 19, 2023. The Council decision of December 12, 2024, on termination of visa exemption is from the Council press release; the act itself could not be accessed in this search and has been added to the verification list.

Prices, timelines, and procedure order are from publications by licensed representatives of the program, retrieved September 3, 2026, and marked as such: an official Vanuatu price list is not publicly available. We do not present intermediary data as government information and do not cite figures that cannot be traced to either an official act or a publication by a specific representative.

Homzer sells foreign real estate and accompanies property transactions. The company is not a citizenship program representative, does not submit citizenship applications, and does not provide citizenship processing services. This material describes the situation as of September 3, 2026, and is not legal advice.

Questions and Answers

Does visa-free entry to Schengen work with a Vanuatu passport?

No. Full suspension of the visa exemption agreement has been in effect since February 4, 2023, and applies to all citizens of the country. On December 12, 2024, the Council announced termination of visa exemption.

How much does Vanuatu citizenship cost in 2026?

According to representatives' publications—from $130,000 non-refundable contribution or from $165,000 for investment in a cocoa fund. An official Vanuatu price list to verify against is not publicly available.

How long does passport issuance take?

Stated timelines from different representatives of the same program vary: from two months to approximately six. We found no government authority publication committing to a timeline.

What does an applicant lose if rejected?

Due diligence checking—$5,500 per application—as well as translation, notarization, and document processing costs. The refund procedure for the first quarter of the contribution is not described in publications.

Can an applicant submit an application independently?

No. A licensed representative submits the application, transfers documents to an in-country agent, and that agent passes them to government authorities.

Who decides on citizenship?

The citizenship commission after vetting by financial intelligence and review by the screening committee. The representative has no influence on the decision and cannot guarantee it.

Why did the European Union revoke visa-free access for this country?

The stated grounds include over 10,500 passports issued by March 2021, an extremely low rejection rate, citizenship granted to people in Interpol databases, no residency requirements, short review timelines, and absence of information exchange with applicants' countries of origin.

Does a holder of this passport need a visa for the United Kingdom?

Yes. A visa requirement was introduced on July 19, 2023, with immediate effect, and the investment citizenship program was cited as the reason.

How many countries actually allow visa-free entry?

According to the visa requirements table published by the program representative itself—48. The figure of 121 in advertisements is obtained by adding visa-free countries to electronic visas and visas on arrival.

Which applicants does the program reject?

The program representatives do not publish a list of countries whose citizens are not accepted. Against the backdrop of neighboring programs, this became the chief sales argument: where Caribbean units explicitly name Russia and Belarus in admission criteria, this program continues to accept applications.

What should a Russian citizen do after obtaining a second passport?

File a notification with the Interior Ministry within 60 days of acquisition, or if abroad, from the next entry to the country. The procedures and consequences are detailed in a separate article.