What is Vanuatu CBI?

How it works

Vanuatu's Development Support Program (DSP), launched in 2017, was for years the cheapest and fastest CBI on the market. Investment minimums:

• Single applicant: approximately USD 130,000 all-in (contribution + processing fees).
• Couple: approximately USD 150,000-180,000.
• Family of four: approximately USD 180,000-200,000.
• Each additional dependent: ~USD 25k+.

The contribution is non-refundable and goes to the Vanuatu government's general fund. No real estate route — DSP is donation-only.

Processing speed is the unique selling point: typically 30-60 days from initial submission to citizenship grant, the fastest in the CBI world.

The 2022 EU suspension

Vanuatu's main commercial value was historically Schengen visa-free travel. In March 2022, the EU suspended visa-free Schengen access for Vanuatu citizens following persistent due-diligence concerns. The suspension was confirmed and extended in 2023.

Effects:

• No more visa-free Schengen for Vanuatu passport holders. Schengen visas now required.
• UK also suspended visa-free travel for Vanuatu citizens around the same time.
• Visa-free network now mostly regional Pacific + parts of Asia + some Caribbean — significantly weakened.

The suspension materially reduced Vanuatu's commercial appeal. Demand collapsed; some agents diverted clients to other Caribbean programmes (St Kitts, Antigua, Grenada).

Current visa-free network

Approximately ~95-100 countries visa-free / visa-on-arrival (down from ~130 pre-2022). Major destinations:

• Visa-free: Russia, China (visa-on-arrival), Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, several Pacific Island nations, parts of Africa.
• NOT visa-free: Schengen, UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan.

Why some founders still use it

• Speed: 30-60 day processing remains unmatched. Useful when an investor needs urgent citizenship for crisis exit.
• Cost: USD 130k is well below Caribbean minimums (USD 200-250k post-2024 reforms).
• Tax neutrality: Vanuatu has no personal income tax, no inheritance tax, no capital gains tax, no wealth tax. Holding the passport doesn't trigger Vanuatu tax (and the country has minimal CRS reach for non-residents).
• Backup nationality: provides political-risk hedge for nationals of unstable jurisdictions.

But for Schengen / UK / US travel, Caribbean CBI (St Kitts, Antigua, Grenada) is structurally better since 2022.

Examples

• Wealthy individual from a politically unstable country needing urgent backup citizenship. Vanuatu DSP issued in 30-45 days. USD 130k cost. Effectively useless for Schengen / UK / US, but provides a non-Western passport for emergency exit + secondary identity.
• Russian investor post-2022 sanctions. Vanuatu enhanced due diligence on Russian-origin applicants since 2022; many applications declined or delayed indefinitely. Caribbean CBIs face similar scrutiny but vary by source-country origin.

Common mistakes

• Counting on EU visa-free. Suspended since 2022. Schengen now requires standard visa application.
• Treating speed as the only criterion. Processing speed is great; passport utility is much weaker than Caribbean alternatives. For travel-driven use cases, Caribbean CBIs are usually better.
• Forgetting source-country tax obligations. Vanuatu citizenship doesn't break your home-country residency or tax obligations.
• Ignoring banking access. Vanuatu passport faces enhanced KYC at most international banks. Some private banks decline accounts on a Vanuatu-only basis.