New System to Apply for Vanuatu Passports in 2024

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The RIF Trust Response to the New Procedure for Applying for Vanuatu Passports

Our Oceania Citizenship by Investment (CBI) expert is Inera Sadykova. She appreciates that one of the strongest pulls of Vanuatu CBI is its quick processing time. “You can get citizenship in the country within 2-3 months,” discloses Sadykova. “Then you and your family will become immediately eligible for Vanuatu passports.”

“But the appeal of this speedy citizenship route for you and your dependents to apply for Vanuatu passports may fade,” she reasons. “RIF Trust received an official memo detailing a personal enrolment requirement.”

“This physical visit stipulation may make Vanuatu citizenship less attractive,” concludes Sadykova. “Although, at $130,000, it remains the most competitively-priced of the 8 major Citizenship by Investment programmes.”

New Application Process for Vanuatu Passports

The memo shares a communication the Vanuatu Citizenship Office Secretary General Allan Liki received from the Department of Immigration. Liki describes that the “new Vanuatu passport system” now “requires Personal Enrolment for any Vanuatu Citizenship Certificate holder meaning that anyone who wishes to apply for Vanuatu passports MUST travel to Vanuatu to apply in person.”

Vanuatu’s Citizenship Office Secretary General continues, explaining that “the new Passport System requires physical appearance before Immigration and Passport officials for biometric data and this applies to any person applying for Vanuatu passports.”

The memo ends with the revelation that “Vanuatu Passport office will no longer received (sic) any paper base passport application after the 31ˢᵗ of August 2024.”

Moving on to the Department of Immigration communication, this “registration of the biometric data and facial recognition data” is a condition “set by ICAO.” ICAO stands for the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency.

Alternative Citizenship by Investment Passport Procedures

Our Passport Index rates the Vanuatu passport ranking as 45th. You can visit 114 destinations without a visa.

If you’re fine with travelling to a Citizenship by Investment country to measure your biometrics, you might want to consider Maltese Exceptional Investor Naturalization (MEIN) instead. A Maltese passport facilitates travel to 175 visa-free countries.

Antigua and Barbuda CBI on the other hand, does not require you to visit the country to collect an Antigua and Barbuda passport ranking 21st, thanks to the fact you can access 157 visa-free destinations with it. Similarly, Dominica CBI allows you to receive the Dominica passport ranking 24th. owing to its delivery of visa-free entry to 154 countries, by mail.

The Grenada passport ranking 22nd is all yours, without you needing to travel to the Spice Island, via Grenada CBI. With this ID, you can visit 155 visa-free destinations.

Elsewhere, the St Kitts and Nevis passport ranking is 18th. 161 visa-free countries are accessible to holders applying through St Kitts and Nevis CBI minus the personal enrolment requirement.

The St Lucia passport ranking is 23rd as you can gain entry to 154 destinations without a visa. Again, no physical appearance in the Eastern Caribbean island is required for those applying via St Lucia CBI.

Finally, there’s the Turkish passport, another travel document that can be sent out to applicants. In 38th place, you can visit 133 visa-free countries through Turkish CBI.

How to Get a Vanuatu Passport in 2024

As you can see, applying for Vanuatu passports has its advantages and its disadvantages. Consult an experienced Citizenship by Investment company such as RIF Trust to find out which CBI programme works best for you. So, contact us now and we’ll show you how to become a citizen by investment.