The Republic of Vanuatu, a Pacific island country with a population of just about 300,000 people, offers Ni-Vanuatu citizenship to investors, making it one of the most popular and exclusive citizenship by investment schemes in the Pacific. The popularity of the Economic Citizenship Program has resulted in Vanuatu becoming a new passport sanctuary in the South Pacific.
What is Vanuatu’s citizenship by investment program?
This passport is for foreign investors who wish to become global citizens owing to Vanuatu’s fast-track passport, which allows visa-free travel to over 130 countries, including the UK and EU.
The program is a world-class citizenship program that allows applicants to apply without having to be physically present in the nation. From the 1990s until 2001, Vanuatu and other Pacific countries maintained a citizenship by investment initiative. These systems provided “passports for convenience,” which had a number of advantages, including tax breaks, the ability to skip military duty, and the ability to evade visa limitations. It is also open the whole family, including citizenship passports for the principal applicant, spouse, and their children. With a straightforward and effective online application, it is now one of the fastest passport programs in the world.
Advantages of the Vanuatu passport
There are so many advantages in choosing Vanuatu as your next home. It is among the world’s happiest places, ranking fourth among all other countries in the world according to the Happy Planet Index. The rankings consider a country’s overall well-being, life expectancy, and inequality levels, as well as its environmental footprint. Thus, it is regarded to be the world’s most environmentally efficient country when it comes to obtaining high levels of happiness.
It is also a popular scuba diving holiday location, boasting of breathtaking coral reefs, shipwrecks, and canyons.
Vanuatu is the only Pacific country where you can purchase citizenship for only about $150,000, down from $220,000 before March 2018. They cut the price of VCP/DSP schemes in 2018 so they can compete with other Caribbean nation. Since then, it has sold 300 passports between 1996 and 1997, netting $3.3 million, or 1.5 percent of GDP at the time. Since then, this program has grown in popularity across the world.
Vanuatu offers offshore financial services, and it remains to be a tax haven until now ever since 2008, with no corporate, capital gains, inheritance, personal income, wealth, withholding, or gift taxes. Vanuatu has the world’s lowest property prices, while maintaining very strong ties with Australia and New Zealand. English is widely spoken across the country, as well as Bislama and French.
Why invest in a new passport
In the twenty-first century, passports have become a crucial asset protection investment for families. Vanuatu provides a one-time opportunity to join the Commonwealth of Nations as a citizen of one of its member countries. If you have a child born after you get an approved naturalization certificate, your child will immediately inherit citizenship. Thus, dual citizenship passport is also a great investment for the future generations of your family. Vanuatu already had dual citizenship in 2014, receiving its first dual citizens, laying the groundwork for the citizenship by investment scheme to begin.
Vanuatu’s government has made a number of adjustments to the economic citizenship program since 2020, making it particularly appealing to international investors. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the due diligence charge has raised by $3000 per person (now costs $5000 per person). All applications are now accepted online or by email. Oaths can be taken orally through video, or in writing. The processing period for the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has increased from two to four days. The FIU is Vanuatu’s national agency responsible for verifying financial information of applicants in order to prevent money laundering, terrorism financing, and suspected crime proceeds. Because of COVID-19, the government eliminated the need for a personal visit. Additionally, the passport’s validity period has been extended from 5 to 10 years.
After being devastated by Cyclone PAM, which caused $600 million in damage, the Vanuatu government resurrected the notion of launching new investment citizenship programs (ICP) to generate cash. In the same year, 2015, a new fast track citizenship system known as the Vanuatu Economic Rehabilitation Program (VERP) was introduced. In March 2017, the Vanuatu Development Support Program (VDSP) and the Vanuatu Contribution Program (VCP) replaced the VERP.
Where to buy property in Vanuatu
Property prices in Vanuatu are still among the lowest in the world. It does not have freehold land, but residential lots can be leased for up to 50 years, while commercial lots can be leased for up to 75 years. Property prices have risen gradually over the years, owing to a growth in tourism, particularly tourist arrivals, as well as an inflow of Chinese, Australians, and other expatriates. Still, foreigners are still allowed to continue purchasing property. Port Vila, Tassiriki, Elluk, the Harbourfront, First Lagoon, Second Lagoon, Bellevue, Malapoa, and the coastal developments close town such as Dream Property are the greatest places to acquire residential property.