Is There a Vanuatu Golden Visa?

Vanuatu has no golden visa in the sense most people mean: a residence permit granted in exchange for an investment. Its investment route, the Development Support Program (DSP), confers citizenship itself. An approved applicant swears an oath, receives a certificate of citizenship and can then ask for a Vanuatu passport, which is why the product is marketed as a "golden passport" rather than a visa.

The confusion is understandable. In Europe and elsewhere, "golden visa" has become shorthand for any investor program, and marketing mixes the two ideas freely. The difference, though, decides what you actually hold at the end, what it lets you do and what it costs to keep.

Golden Visa and Golden Passport Are Different Products

A golden visa is a right of residence. The investor receives a permit to live in a country, usually renewable, often tied to keeping the investment in place, and sometimes leading to naturalization only after years of actual residence. The investor's nationality does not change, and travel continues on the old passport.

A golden passport, in market language, is citizenship by investment. The applicant becomes a national of the country, holds its passport and keeps that status for life unless it is revoked or renounced. Nothing has to be renewed except the passport booklet when it expires.

The left-hand column describes residence programs in general terms; rules differ from country to country and change often. The right-hand column is fixed by Vanuatu's own legislation.

What the Vanuatu Investment Route Grants

Section 13E of Vanuatu's Citizenship Act (Cap 112) is the legal base of the DSP; the detailed requirements for Vanuatu citizenship sit in a 2019 Regulation (Order No. 33), amended in 2020 by Order No. 39. Its main features are these:

• Minimum price. The program may not be sold below US$130,000 for one applicant, with floors of US$150,000, US$165,000 and US$180,000 for a married couple, a couple and a child, and a couple and two children.
• Government fee. Inside that price sits a prescribed government fee, US$80,000 for a single applicant, paid in US dollars to the program's account with the National Bank of Vanuatu.
• Checks. The Financial Intelligence Unit carries out due diligence, for a fee of US$5,000 per application, with an international firm involved since 2020.
• Decision. The Citizenship Commission, a constitutional body, approves, defers or refuses. Any criminal conviction rules out approval.
• Outcome. After approval, the applicant has three months to swear the oath and settle what remains of the fee, and the certificate is issued within 90 days of approval. The passport is then requested from the Immigration and Passport Services.

The passport issued since the upgrade of July 2019 is valid for ten years, although the passport FAQ on the government's site still mentions five; the Passport Office confirms the validity it applies when the book is issued.

Other Vanuatu Programs That Sound Like Residence Schemes

Several program names add to the golden visa confusion. None of them is a residence permit.

Capital Investment Immigration Plan (CIIP)

Despite the word "immigration" in its name, the CIIP led to citizenship: its investors applied on the Citizenship Office's Form D under section 13C of the Act. The CIIP was suspended in March 2025, following Council of Ministers decision No. 012 of 2025. Industry sources report that it reopened in May 2025 under amended rules, but no official notice confirming the current terms has been published, so we confirm its status and amounts at the assessment rather than assume them.

Real Estate Option Program (REO)

Running since 23 July 2021, the REO also grants citizenship. The applicant buys property in a government-approved project and pays the prescribed fees in addition. The property purchase is a condition of citizenship, not a basis for residence.

Vanuatu Contribution Program (VCP)

Created under section 13D of the Act, the VCP was historically marketed in Greater China through a single master agent. It is also a citizenship program. Its current status is not something the public sources confirm, so applicants from China are advised on the DSP.

Residence Permits Are a Separate Matter, and Not Our Work

Vanuatu does issue residence visas and permits, but they belong to a different body of law and are handled by the immigration authorities, not by the Citizenship Office or Commission. We do not advise on them, on work permits or on moving to Vanuatu. Our practice covers citizenship only.

For most of our clients that is not a gap, because the DSP does not ask anyone to live in Vanuatu, before or after the grant. Two moments still need your direct involvement. One is the oath, taken before a Commissioner for Oaths; a Citizenship Office notice of August 2020 allowed it by video link until further notice, and that notice has not been withdrawn. The other is biometric capture for the passport. The designated agent confirms which form of oath is accepted for your file and how the biometrics are arranged.

If What You Really Want Is Europe

Many golden-visa seekers really want a foothold in Europe. A Vanuatu passport no longer provides one. The EU suspended visa-free travel for Vanuatu passport holders in full on 4 February 2023 and moved Vanuatu permanently onto its visa-required list with effect from 3 February 2025; Britain added Vanuatu to its visa-national list on 19 July 2023, so visitors need a visa there too.

In Henley's index for October 2026 the passport ranks 60th and opens 85 destinations without a visa obtained in advance; other counts reach about 88. That is useful mobility, but it does not include a right to live, work or travel freely in Europe. If European residence is the goal, a Vanuatu passport is not a substitute, and we will say so at the assessment.

Why Citizenship by Investment Draws More Scrutiny Than a Visa

A residence permit leaves the investor's nationality where it was. A grant of citizenship hands over a new nationality and a passport that other countries must decide whether to trust, which is why citizenship programs attract far closer attention from foreign governments than golden visas do.

Vanuatu's experience shows how direct that link is. When the European Union ended visa-free travel for Vanuatu passport holders, its legal acts pointed to the risks of the investor citizenship programs. One of them, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2059, cited figures supplied by Vanuatu itself: 1,988 applications and 27 refusals over 2022 and 2023, which the EU treated as a sign that screening was not reliable enough. Vanuatu's own checks have tightened over the years: an international firm has worked alongside the FIU since 2020, and the FIU set stricter file requirements in January 2025.

For an applicant, the practical lesson is that the quality of the file matters more than the speed of the sale. A complete, verifiable application protects the grant; whether the passport is worth it for your family is a separate question, best weighed before any money moves.

Who the Vanuatu Route Suits, and Who It Does Not

The DSP tends to fit people who want a second citizenship and passport for themselves and their family, can document where their money came from, have no criminal conviction, and do not plan to move to Vanuatu. It does not fit someone who needs a residence right in a particular country, expects citizenship to change where they pay tax (it does not, by itself), or comes from a country whose law takes away nationality on the voluntary acquisition of another.

How We Help When Citizenship Fits

When Vanuatu citizenship does meet your aim, we fully assist you in obtaining it. We start with a free written assessment of eligibility and cost, plan who goes on the family file, and collect and check the documents: police certificates, apostilled civil records, certified translations and the source-of-funds evidence. Lodging is done by a government-designated agent, since Vanuatu law allows no other channel. From there we follow the file through FIU vetting and the Commission's ruling, then help with the dollar transfers into the official account, the oath, collecting the certificate and finally the request for a passport.

If you are unsure whether the route suits you, ask for the free assessment. Tell us what you hoped a golden visa would give you, who would apply and where each adult has lived; we will reply in writing with an honest view of whether Vanuatu citizenship meets that aim, and what it would cost your family if it does.