Vanuatu is a small island nation in Oceania that is rarely heard of on the news program. Until 1980, it was a colony jointly owned by Great Britain and France. After becoming independent, the Republic of Vanuatu is still a remote corner of the world, where the economy is based on agriculture and the population does not stand out from its neighbors with its wealth or rich cultural life.
You probably wouldn’t have heard anything about Vanuatu until now, but in 2017, the jurisdiction launched its investment program, which is currently one of the fastest ways to get a second citizenship.
Foreign investors do not need to learn English, French or Bislama (the local dialect of Creole, which has become common on the inhabited islands of the archipelago) to obtain Vanuatu citizenship, they do not need to take tests on local history and they do not need to move to the other side of the globe. Although, unlike many Caribbean investment citizenship programs, you will still have to visit the Republic of Vanuatu once – when you need to submit biometric data.
To date, Vanuatu’s passport program is one of the easiest, fastest and most affordable ways to obtain a second citizenship for investment, even when compared to popular investment citizenship programs in the Caribbean.
As stated earlier, the first and foremost prerequisite for economic citizenship in Vanuatu is investment. You will not need to take language exams, prepare for local cultural tests or learn the national anthem.
What’s more, in terms of total costs for a second passport, it is one of the most affordable investment programs in the world.
The time it takes for a program participant to obtain Vanuatu citizenship for investment is between 2 and 4 months. This is a record, even when compared to Caribbean jurisdictions where a second passport can be obtained in six months.
Investors often feel uneasy about spending a lot of money to obtain a passport for small, economically dependent jurisdictions on the other side of the planet. Especially if the investment must be made before an application for economic citizenship can be made.
Vanuatu’s immigration authorities first consider an investor’s candidacy and only then offer to invest in the economy. Of course, as in all other jurisdictions that run passport programs, there is a fee for a security check in Vanuatu. If you fail it, you will lose $5,500. To reduce the risks to zero, contact Imperial & Legal for advice.
An attractive aspect of Vanuatu’s investment program is the opportunity to earn a regular income from your investment. In this island nation it is possible to invest in CNO Fund, an organization whose name can be translated into Russian as “Coconut Oil Fund”. CNO Fund invests in agriculture, logistics, as well as copra processing and coconut oil production. Investments in the fund will bring a return of up to 5% per annum to the program participant.
One of the undeniable advantages of Vanuatu is the ability to issue a second passport not only for the investor, but also for their immediate family members, including:
The strength of a jurisdiction’s passport is measured by the number of countries that are willing to let a citizen in without a visa, or with a visa on arrival, which is provided immediately at passport control, without tedious bureaucratic procedures.
Vanuatu citizenship allows for simplified or visa-free travel across the borders of 90 nations, including jurisdictions such as Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Citizens of this small country can apply for tourist visas to the United States in categories that are usually unavailable to people in the former Soviet Union. The American visa B1/B2 is issued for 5 years and allows you to spend up to 180 days a year in the United States.
Entrepreneurs take part in the Vanuatu passport program to benefit from the advantages of a classic offshore zone. International companies registered in this island state are exempt from paying corporate income tax, as well as capital gains, gift and inheritance taxes for the first 20 years of their existence.
A holder of Vanuatu economic citizenship can take advantage of a second passport and wait it out in a quiet, peaceful country until it is safe at home.
The jurisdiction’s authorities have minimal requirements for the principal applicant. You will be admitted to the Vanuatu passport program if:
Currently there are 2 options available to wealthy foreigners to participate in Vanuatu’s investment program. And one more was announced by the government relatively recently, but investment mechanisms have not yet been worked out, so we will tell you about this route in a nutshell.
Advantages of this method:
The disadvantages are obvious, too:
Benefits of investing in CNO Fund:
Disadvantages of this investment route:
The exact amount depends on the investment route you choose, as well as the size of your family. So, to give you the best idea of the costs involved, Imperial & Legal have prepared some comparison tables for a single investor, a couple, a family with one and two children.
Notes:
* – from 2024, investment in the assets of the Cocoa Sustainability Fund is also available in the Republic of Vanuatu.
** – for large families where investment citizenship is issued for 5 or more people, each additional dependent in the application increases the amount of the main investment:
In 2023, the government of this island nation announced a groundbreaking investment route involving the redemption of specially issued Vanuatu government bonds.
What is the peculiarity of this way of investing?
All applications to participate in Vanuatu’s passport program through the purchase of government bonds will have to be submitted through an intermediary – the Principal Agent for the program. It is not without reason that we have emphasized that this option is not yet fully developed, as the government has not yet appointed anyone to the position of Principal Agent, nor has it even announced the requirements for the position.
If you are not a specialist in immigration law, you will need professional legal advice at every stage. Imperial & Legal’s advisers will carefully consider all of the client’s circumstances and wishes in order to find the best investment route.
As a rule, already at the first consultation, our staff offers the client an objective assessment of the likelihood of being rejected by the Vanuatu immigration authorities. Simply put, we conduct a preliminary security check that minimizes the risk of losing the fee for a similar check when applying for an investment program.
In addition to a passport, a police certificate of no criminal convictions and a bank statement, the list of required documents includes a brief characterization of the applicant.
Typically, the preparation of documents and gathering of necessary information is also taken care of by Imperial & Legal lawyers.
The applicant or his or her lawyer pays for the due diligence, which in Vanuatu costs $5,500. As in many other jurisdictions, communication with the Vanuatu authorities is done through the official agent of the investment program, the local lawyer.
Imperial & Legal only partners on the island with trusted and executive program agents, so your pre-screening will last no longer than a week.
Once you have passed the security check, you are highly likely to qualify for a Vanuatu passport for your investment.
Nevertheless, all formalities must be observed, so our lawyers fill out an application for participation in an investment program in one of the directions (not your choice), attach scans of documents and send it to the immigration authorities of this island country. As a rule, it takes about 2 weeks to make a final decision on your candidacy.
Another option of interaction with the authorities of this island country involves a personal trip of the program participant and his/her family to the Republic of Vanuatu, where they apply for citizenship with the help of our registration agent.
Unfortunately, Vanuatu is a rather small and modest jurisdiction that can’t open a visa centerin every country. And since a citizen’s passport is biometric, you (and your immediate family) will need to fly to the islands to be fingerprinted and photographed.
Once the Vanuatu Citizenship Commission has approved your application, you will need to make an investment via a pre-selected route. The applicant will have 90 days from the date of a favourable decision on their application to complete this task.
Once the Citizenship Commission is satisfied that you have invested in the economy through one of the available options, a certificate of naturalization is issued and the passport office is instructed to issue you a passport as a citizen of the Republic of Vanuatu, which is usually sent directly to the investor using one of the international delivery services.
No. A foreign investor who obtains a Vanuatu passport for buying shares in holding companies or receiving a grant to an economic development fund is no different in the sum of rights and obligations from the island’s natives, who have received a passport by birthright.
If you invest in the equity of Vanuatu registered holding companies, the expected return on investment is 5%.
Immigration officials do not make empty promises to foreign investors, as they base their predictions on factual information:
The Vanuatu government has committed to a full transition to renewable electricity by 2030. Consequently, the Coke Oil Fund’s shares will show steady growth at least until the designated timeframe.
The increase in the price of cocoa beans on the world market in recent years has broken its own records. Therefore, the capitalization of the Cocoa Sustainability Fund in the Republic of Vanuatu will only increase in the coming years.
The main document of a citizen of the Republic of Vanuatu is valid for 10 years, after which you can order a new passport without leaving your home with the help of our company’s employees.
Yes, there is a program that allows you to do this. If one of your parents is over 50 years of age, if you are married, if you have a child in the family, you can make your relative a Vanuatu passport.
However, if you need to apply for a second citizenship for an adult, be prepared to pay the full cost of the security check. The cost in Vanuatu is now $5,500.
The FIU, a special Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in this small country, is responsible for checking a potential participant in an investment program for trustworthiness. This is why immigration attorneys refer to the pre-screening of an applicant in publications on Vanuatu’s investment citizenship as a “FIU check”.
No, you can’t. Unfortunately, even the registration of an IBC that is not economically present in the country requires the personal presence of the entrepreneur in the Republic of Vanuatu.
First of all, because the Vanuatu passport contains biometric information of the citizen on a special chip. Since the Republic of Vanuatu has no visa centers around the world, it is possible to take fingerprints and passport photos only by flying to the country in person.
The second reason is the taking of the oath of office. Unlike some Caribbean jurisdictions, a Vanuatu investment program participant cannot take the oath of office by video link. You will either have to invite a special person who has been authorized by the country’s immigration authorities to administer the oath to you or do so in person when you travel to the Republic.
No, you can obtain a second passport in Vanuatu by investing funds from your sponsor, which can be another person or even a company. However, in this case, you will need to submit the sponsor’s documents along with the program participant’s documents, including those that prove the legal origin of the money being invested.
It is important for a prospective investor to be aware of all the upcoming costs associated with second citizenship. Unfortunately, most publications on the subject of Vanuatu‘s passport program are either silent or only speak in general terms about bank fees.
Meanwhile, the fee for transferring funds to the islands can be as high as 7%. For example, if you donate $130,000 to an economic development fund, another $9,100 will go towards the bank’s fee. Check with your bank about the cost of transferring funds to Vanuatu before you apply for an investment program!
We will help you choose a citizenship program and invest in a second passport for the whole family. Contact us now to discuss your requirements.
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