Vanuatu Passport Cost and Fees

Under Vanuatu's Development Support Program (DSP), citizenship for one person cannot cost less than US$130,000. Families start higher: US$150,000 (married couple), US$165,000 (couple plus a child) and US$180,000 (couple plus two children). Three government charges are added to that price: US$5,000 for due diligence, VT 5,000 to lodge the application and VT 10,000 for each person's citizenship certificate. The Vanuatu passport itself is a separate and much smaller charge, paid to the passport authority once citizenship has been granted.

Those are the figures fixed by law. What you will actually spend depends on the size of your family, the agent's selling price above the floor, professional fees and the cost of your own documents. The sections below build the budget layer by layer, show when each amount leaves your account, and point out which payments you cannot get back.

Layer One: The Program Price

Clause 4 of the DSP Regulation (Order No. 33, made in 2019 and amended by Order No. 39 of 2020) does not fix a price; it forbids selling the program below a stated minimum. Clause 7(1) then fixes the prescribed government fee, which comes out of that price and is credited to the program's account with the National Bank of Vanuatu. Reading the two clauses together gives this picture:

Two points cause most of the confusion around Vanuatu citizenship prices. First, the government's Fees and Charges page lists US$130,000, US$150,000, US$165,000 and US$180,000 in its table of mandated fees, which is why many sites call the US$130,000 a "government contribution". The Regulation is more precise: those figures are the lowest permitted selling prices, and the government's own fee inside them is lower. Second, the Regulation does not say how the difference between the price and the government fee is divided. Ask for that split in writing.

Agents are free to sell above the floor, and some do. A higher price does not buy a better chance: the Commission decides on the file, the checks and the law, not on what the applicant paid the agent. If two quotes differ, the difference should be explained by services you can name, not by promises about the outcome.

Families that do not match one of the four listed combinations, such as a single parent with children, are not priced in the schedule. The designated agent confirms the figure in writing before anything is paid.

Layer Two: Fixed Charges Outside the Price

• Due diligence fee: US$5,000 per application. Clause 7(4) makes the applicant pay for the FIU checks on himself or herself and on everyone named on the application. Order No. 39 of 2020 raised it from US$2,000. It is one fee for the file, not one per person.
• Application fee: VT 5,000 per application, paid to the Citizenship Office when the file is lodged.
• Certificate fee: VT 10,000 for each person who receives a citizenship certificate (clause 7(3)).

Layer Three: Costs on Your Side

These are not set by any regulation, and they vary with where you and your family have lived. Plan for them from the start rather than discovering them along the way:

• police certificates from each country of residence the agent asks about, with apostilles or consular legalization;
• certified translations of any document issued in another language;
• a notarized CV, which the FIU's January 2025 notice requires in every file;
• bank and accountant letters supporting the source of funds;
• courier charges, bank transfer fees and the cost of converting your currency into US dollars;
• travel for the oath and passport biometrics, where these must be done in person;
• the professional fee of whoever prepares the file, which should be quoted separately from every government amount.

What the Vanuatu Passport Itself Costs

The Vanuatu passport price in the narrow sense, the fee for the passport booklet itself, is small and separate from the citizenship budget. It is paid to the Immigration and Passport Services after the certificate is issued. The government's passport page publishes these service levels:

These are the office's published service levels, not promises, and fees can change. The age bands follow the passport FAQ; the passport policy page uses slightly different bands for the same amounts. The same page still describes the passport as valid for five years, although the upgraded passport introduced in July 2019 runs for ten; the office confirms the validity when it issues the book.

When Each Amount Leaves Your Account

1. Assessment. Ours costs nothing. The professional fee falls due on the terms of the written engagement.
2. Due diligence. The US$5,000 is paid, usually through the agent, when the checks are requested.
3. Lodging. The Citizenship Office collects its VT 5,000 fee as the file is handed in.
4. Before the decision. Clause 6(2)(a) requires one quarter of the prescribed government fee up front, ahead of the Commission's consideration.
5. Before the certificate. The remaining 75% is due before the certificate is issued, alongside the oath, within the three months that section 8BA of the Citizenship Act allows after approval.
6. After the grant. Certificate fees, then passport fees for each family member.

Clause 6(3) also lets you pay the full government fee at once instead of in two parts. The Fees and Charges page simplifies the timing to "after the Commission has approved"; we work from the Regulation, which requires the first quarter earlier.

Worked Examples

The table shows the advance due before the Commission's decision for common family shapes. The last row is calculated from the US$10,000 rate for an additional child; the agent confirms it in writing.

Every row also carries one US$5,000 due diligence fee and one VT 5,000 application fee, plus passport fees and your own document costs. Note that the advance is a quarter of the government fee, not of the program price.

Money at Risk if the Answer Is No

The Commission can refuse, and the budget should allow for that. Clause 6(4)(b) keeps the 25% advance with the government when an application fails. Nothing in the Regulation provides for the due diligence fee to come back, so count it as gone from the moment the FIU starts work. Document costs are spent too, and any refund of professional fees depends on your engagement terms. A further point to plan around: miss the post-approval window for the oath and the balance and the approval lapses, with a fresh application and fresh fees to follow.

Costs That Come Later

A few amounts fall outside the first budget but are worth knowing now. A Vanuatu passport cannot be renewed in the same book: when it expires, the holder applies for a new one and pays the fee again. A child born after a parent's grant is a citizen under clause 8(5) of the Regulation, which sets a VT 10,000 passport fee for that child.

A spouse or children added after the grant are charged under clause 8. The starting point is a US$5,000 administration fee; where the original grant came after the 2018 fee cut, the difference to the fees now prescribed is added, and each other dependant costs US$10,000. The agent confirms these figures in writing when the time comes.

Quotes That Should Make You Pause

• An all-in price below US$130,000 for one person. Clause 4 does not allow the program to be sold for less.
• "Pay nothing until approval." The Regulation puts the first quarter of the government fee ahead of the Commission's review.
• Payment in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. The Citizenship Office recognizes only US dollars for its programs.
• Government money to a personal or offshore account. The only destination for government amounts is the program's account with the National Bank of Vanuatu.
• A single figure with no breakdown. Without the split between government fees, due diligence, certificates and professional fees, you cannot compare offers or see what is at risk.

To get the figure for your own family, request the free assessment with a note of who would be on the application and how old each person is; we send back a written budget with each government amount, our fee, the expected document costs and the date each payment falls due. If you go ahead, we fully assist you through the whole application, from the documents and the designated agent's filing to the oath, the certificate and the passport.