Vanuatu Citizenship for Your Family

One Development Support Program (DSP) file can bring a whole household into Vanuatu citizenship: the main applicant, a husband or wife, minor children, students up to age 25 who share the applicant's home or rely on the applicant's support, and parents past 50 who meet both of those tests. The minimum price grows with the family: US$150,000 for a married couple, US$165,000 with one child, US$180,000 with two, and US$10,000 more for each further child or eligible dependant. Every person named goes through the same due diligence, and each ends up with a citizenship certificate and a passport in his or her own name.

The rules are short, but families rarely fit them neatly. A student turns 26, a parent is 49, a partner is not legally married, a child arrives after the grant. Each of these has a different answer, and some change the budget as well as the file.

Who Can Share One Application

The definitions sit in clause 1 of the 2019 DSP Regulation, Order No. 33. A child is a natural or adopted child under 18. A "resident dependant" includes the two older groups below. The schedule of prices speaks of a married couple, so a spouse means a legal spouse.

The word "includes" in the definition means the list is not framed as closed, but relatives outside it are not covered by the published text either. Siblings, grandchildren, unmarried partners and adult children over 25 would normally need applications of their own. Where a case is borderline, we put the question to the designated agent in writing before anyone is named.

Family Shapes and How They Fit

A couple with young children

This is the arrangement the price schedule was written for. Each child under 18 needs a birth certificate showing both parents, and where only one parent is applying, the other parent's position should be dealt with at the assessment so that it does not surface during the checks or, later, at the passport office, which needs written parental consent before it issues a child's passport.

A student between 18 and 25

Two things must be true at once: the young person studies full time, and is housed or financially supported by the applicant (one of the two is enough). The Regulation does not say on which date the age is measured, so for a son or daughter close to 26 the timing of lodging matters. We plan dates with the agent so that no one ages out while the file is being prepared.

Parents over 50

The parents may be the main applicant's own or the spouse's. Either way, the test is double: a shared household and financial reliance on the applicant. A parent who lives independently on his or her own pension will usually not qualify, however close the family is. Each parent is screened like every other adult on the file.

A single parent

The schedule lists one applicant, a couple, and a couple with one or two children, but not a single parent with children. The figure for that family is not set in the published table, so the designated agent confirms it in writing before anything is paid. The child's other parent and any custody order are considered at the assessment.

A spouse who is not yet a spouse

Because the schedule refers to a married couple, an unmarried partner does not fit the spouse category. Some couples marry before applying; others have the partner apply separately. Clause 8 also allows a spouse to be added after the grant, as described below.

Cost by Family Size

The prices below are the minimum selling prices from clause 4 of the Regulation, with the prescribed government fee from clause 7(1) shown alongside. Rows marked "calculated" use the US$10,000 rate for each additional applicant shown on the government's Fees and Charges page; the agent confirms them in writing.

Some charges do not multiply with the family. The FIU due diligence fee of US$5,000 is paid once per application and covers the checks on everyone named in it (clause 7(4)), and the VT 5,000 application fee is also charged per application. Passport fees, on the other hand, are paid for each person.

Documents for Each Person

The Financial Intelligence Unit's notice of January 2025 lists four things every file must hold: a passport copy still valid for over six months, a current police clearance, a CV certified by a notary, and a government payment receipt. For a family, the practical list looks like this:

• a passport copy for every family member, each with more than six months left before expiry;
• police certificates for the adults, from the countries the agent asks about; the agent confirms the age from which a certificate is required;
• a notarized CV, which the notice makes compulsory for the file; since agents commonly want one from every adult, we check what yours expects;
• birth, marriage and adoption records, apostilled or legalized, with certified translations;
• for students, an enrollment letter, and for students and parents, evidence of the shared home or financial support;
• the source-of-funds account and supporting records for the money used to pay for the whole family.

One Record Can Affect the Whole File

Under clause 6(9) a conviction rules out approval, and the FIU vets each person on the application, not only the main applicant. The Regulation bars approval of a person with a conviction; whether that removes only that person or affects the whole family file is confirmed through the agent before lodging. We go through each adult's history before the names are fixed, so any hard choice is made at the planning stage, with money still in your pocket, and not after a refusal.

Adding Family After the Grant

Families change, and the Regulation anticipates it. Clause 8 lets a citizen under the program file a later application for a husband or wife and for children. That later file costs a US$5,000 administration fee; where the original grant came after the 2018 fee cut, the difference between what was paid then and the fees now prescribed is added. Any other dependant added this way is charged US$10,000 under clause 7(1)(e) and (f). The newcomers are vetted like any applicant, and we get the agent's written figure for your situation before a payment is made.

Children born after the grant are treated more simply. Clause 8(5) makes a child born after the parent's grant a Vanuatu citizen automatically, with VT 10,000 payable for the child's passport. The passport office will ask for the child's birth certificate and the parent's citizenship certificate as proof.

Passports for Every Family Member

Each person, including a newborn, needs a separate passport. The government's passport guidance gives the reason: the machine-readable data page holds the details of a single holder, so children are never added to a parent's passport. For anyone under 18, a parent or legal guardian named on the birth certificate must give written consent, children aged 10 to 17 sign their own form, and the finished passport is handed only to a parent or guardian. The published fees for children are lower than for adults, starting at VT 1,500 for the youngest at the normal service level.

If you are planning a family application, request the free assessment and list who you would like to include, with ages, marital status and who lives with whom; we reply in writing with who fits the definitions, the figures for your family and the documents to order first.