How to Get a Vanuatu Passport

You can only get a Vanuatu passport once you are a Vanuatu citizen. The Passports Act 2009 limits the document to citizens. For a foreigner, that means first obtaining citizenship, in practice through the Development Support Program (DSP), and receiving the citizenship certificate, then lodging a separate passport application with Immigration and Passport Services, a part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. For that second step you bring original papers, a completed form, photos and the fee, and you enroll your biometrics in person.

A citizenship certificate does not turn into a passport by itself. The passport is a second application, to a second office, with its own form, its own rules on original documents and its own vatu fees.

Two Applications, Two Government Offices

Many people expect the body that grants citizenship to hand over the passport as well. Vanuatu separates the two. In a February 2025 press release, the Citizenship Office and Commission stated that the law gives it no power to issue passports of any type. Ordinary green passports come from the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Immigration and Passport Services; diplomatic ones are a matter for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Stage One in Brief: The Citizenship Grant

The passport office will not consider an application until your citizenship is on record. For an investor, how to get citizenship in Vanuatu comes down to a documented file lodged by a government-designated agent, due diligence by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a first payment of one quarter of the government fee in US dollars, and the Citizenship Commission's decision.

After approval, the balance of the fee and the oath before a Commissioner for Oaths fall within 3 months. The Citizenship Office's August 2020 notice permitting oaths over video link "until further notice" remains in place, and the designated agent confirms whether your file can use it or whether you appear before the Commissioner in person. The citizenship certificate follows, which the Regulation places within 90 days of approval. Only with it in hand does the passport application begin.

Stage Two: Applying for the Passport

The government's passport FAQ and its published passport policies describe what the office expects. For a new citizen, the steps look like this:

1. Get the application form. Only the Passport Office's own form counts. Do not rely on versions found online.
2. Assemble original documents. For a citizen by grant, the policy lists an original birth certificate, the Vanuatu citizenship certificate, and details of previous nationalities and previous passports.
3. Prepare two identical recent photographs.
4. Arrange an identity witness. The form calls for a witness over 18 who has known you for at least a year. The witness fills in the witness section, signs it, and certifies one of the photos on the back. For a new citizen who lives abroad, how this is handled is something the designated agent confirms with the office.
5. Pay the fee for the service level you choose. The full fee is payable when the application is lodged.
6. Attend biometric enrollment in person, in Port Vila or at a location the authorities approve. Ask the agent which locations are available at the time.
7. Collect the passport, or have it sent through the channel the office uses. A child's passport is handed only to a parent or guardian, or to a person they have authorized in writing.

What the Passport Office will and will not accept

The office checks identity and entitlement afresh for every application. Its policies set some firm rules:

• Only originals are taken. The office turns down photocopies and faxes, since altered copies are hard to spot. A certified copy will do only if it bears the issuing authority's own seal or stamp.
• For a birth certificate issued abroad, the office may ask for an authenticated copy.
• A foreign passport, a church record or a hospital record cannot establish identity or entitlement on its own, though any of them may back up other evidence.
• Damaged or altered documents are rejected, and a replacement has to be obtained from the issuer.
• The date of birth on the form must match the birth certificate exactly. To use a married name, bring the marriage certificate.
• A previous Vanuatu passport does not prove citizenship by itself. It is handed in so that it can be canceled and linked to the new record.

Most delays at this stage come from inconsistencies: a name spelled one way on the certificate and another on the birth record, or a translation that renders a date differently. We check these points before the citizenship file is lodged, because the spelling you confirm for the certificate carries through to the passport.

Fees and service levels

These are the figures in the government's passport FAQ, listed by applicant and service:

The times assume that all information and the correct payment have been provided. The policy page also contains an older list, with VT 5,000 for a normal passport, and the age bands for children differ slightly between the two pages. We confirm the current fee before you pay. These amounts are separate from the DSP fees, which are paid in US dollars to the citizenship program.

Passports for Children

Each child needs a passport of their own. Under International Civil Aviation Organization standards, each machine-readable passport holds the data of one person only, so parents cannot carry their children on their own document. Every child in the family file therefore gets a separate application.

• Written consent is needed from one parent or a lawful guardian. A consenting parent has to appear on the child's birth certificate, and the office checks this.
• Children aged 10 to 17 sign the application themselves. Younger children do not sign.
• A guardian who is not a parent writes a letter to the office, and the policy sets out what it must contain.
• A child born after a parent obtained citizenship under the DSP is a Vanuatu citizen under clause 8(5) of the Regulation, and the Regulation fixes that child's passport fee at VT 10,000.

The validity period of children's passports is not published. Ask the Passport Office for it at the time of application.

Validity, Renewal and Replacement

An upgraded Vanuatu passport valid for 10 years was introduced in July 2019. The government's passport FAQ still says 5 years, a figure that dates from before the upgrade, so do not be surprised by the conflict between sources.

There is no extension of an existing machine-readable booklet. When it expires, you apply for a new one with a new form, and the old passport is submitted for cancellation. If a passport is lost or stolen, the office asks for a police report and confirms your entitlement from its existing records. The office checks entitlement again with every application, but citizenship itself never needs renewing: it lasts unless it is lost, renounced or revoked. A passport held by someone who is no longer a citizen can be canceled.

Passports Offered Without Citizenship

No lawful channel sells a Vanuatu passport on its own. In February 2025 the Citizenship Office and Commission publicly rejected reports of Vanuatu diplomatic passports being marketed abroad, and pointed out that it does not issue passports at all. It also warns that its official websites end in .gov.vu, and it keeps a public list of people and firms it does not accept as designated agents. Any offer that skips the citizenship stage, or asks you to pay government fees anywhere other than the official DSP account, should be treated as fraud.

What the Passport Gives You at the Border

A Vanuatu passport does not open Europe or the United Kingdom without a visa. Visa-free Schengen entry ended with a full EU suspension on 4 February 2023, and a permanent visa obligation has applied since 3 February 2025. British visas have been needed since 19 July 2023. Henley's October 2026 ranking puts Vanuatu 60th, with 85 destinations; other indexes count up to about 88. Hong Kong, Singapore and Russia are among the places that remain open without a visa. Check the rules for each trip before you book.

How We Help With the Passport Stage

Our work does not stop at the certificate. We confirm the spelling of names for the certificate, prepare the original documents the Passport Office will want, check the current fee and enrollment locations through the designated agent, and plan your travel for biometric enrollment, and for the oath if the agent confirms it must be taken in person. The official passport FAQ is a useful reference alongside this guide.

If you are considering Vanuatu citizenship and want to know what the whole path to the passport would look like for your family, request our free assessment. We reply with eligibility, the expected costs and the sequence of steps in writing.