One file. Your whole family.
Vanuatu citizenship is not a single-passport decision for most buyers; it is a household one. A spouse, dependent children, and in defined cases dependent parents and grandparents can be included on one file, granted together, and issued their own passports. The contribution rises by a fixed increment for each person rather than starting over, which is why a family of four lands near $52,000 per head instead of four full prices. This page covers who qualifies, exactly how the cost scales, the per-applicant math, and the two caveats nobody can waive: each dependent is screened on their own, and everyone attends the one in-person biometric step. The honest version, then the calculator.
A household, not a single passport.
Yes, your family can be on one application. Vanuatu treats the principal applicant as the anchor of the file and adds qualifying family members as dependents: a spouse, dependent children, and, where they genuinely depend on the principal and meet the program's age and dependency conditions, dependent parents and grandparents. The file is submitted once, screened together, and granted together. Each person receives their own Vanuatu passport.
Read the economics carefully, because this is where a family file earns its keep. The government contribution is not charged four times over. The principal pays the full single-applicant contribution; each added member pays a fixed increment, not another full price. The result is a per-applicant figure that falls well below the cost of one standalone file, and far below four of them. And because a citizenship granted under Cap. 112 is hereditary and permanent, your children do not just travel on it now; they inherit it, and pass it to their own children. The exact total for your specific family is one input away on the live calculator.
Who can be on the file.
Four categories of applicant, each with its own conditions. Where dependency is the test, it has to be genuine and documented.
Principal applicant
One adult, 18 or over, with a clean record and a lawful, documented source of funds. The principal carries the file, pays the full single-applicant contribution, and is the person the rest of the family attaches to.
Spouse
A legal spouse is added as a dependent on the same file, with their own civil documents and their own due diligence. They are granted alongside the principal and receive their own passport.
Dependent children
Children who qualify as dependents under the program's age and dependency rules are added with their own birth registration and civil documents. They inherit the citizenship permanently under Cap. 112.
Dependent parents & grandparents
Parents and grandparents can be included where they genuinely depend on the principal applicant and meet the program's age and dependency conditions. Each is added as a dependent with its own contribution increment and screening.
How the cost scales.
Two things move when you add a family member: the government contribution steps up by a fixed increment, and the per-person line items repeat. Here is exactly what does what.
- Government contribution
- The largest number. A single applicant is $130,000, set by Order No. 33 of 2019. Each added family member, spouse, child, or dependent parent, raises the contribution by a fixed increment rather than charging another full $130,000. The increment per member is computed exactly by the calculator.
- Due diligence
- $5,000 per file. This is the screening cost that covers the application, and it is charged once for the file, not per person.
- Birth registration + national ID
- $2,500 per applicant. Every person on the file, principal and each dependent, is registered and issued a national ID, so this line repeats for each.
- Passport enrolment
- $1,000 per applicant. Each person who receives a passport carries this line, so it scales one-for-one with the number of applicants.
- Advisory
- A flat 5% of the government contribution. Because the contribution rises with the family, the advisory fee rises in proportion, and nothing else.
Why four on one file beats four files.
A worked example. A family of four, run on the Development Support Programme, against the cost of four people filing separately.
$145,000
One applicant, all-in on DSP: the $130,000 government contribution plus due diligence, birth registration and national ID, passport enrolment, and the 5% advisory.
~$208,000
Principal, spouse, and two dependent children on a single file. The contribution steps up by a fixed increment per member, and the per-person lines repeat, but only the principal pays a full contribution.
~$52,000 each
That $208,000, divided across four applicants, is roughly $52,000 per head, well under the $145,000 a single standalone file costs. Four separate files would each carry the full contribution.
The point is structural, not promotional. The government contribution, the single biggest line, is paid in full once and topped up by an increment for each additional person. Spread that one large number across a household and the per-applicant cost drops sharply. Add the people on separate files instead and every one of them pays the full contribution again. This is the whole reason a family is brought onto one file. The exact figure for your family, including the Total Per Applicant line, is computed by the live calculator, which is canonical to the published cost schedule.
Run your family on the calculator.
We do not quote family pricing from a brochure, because the contribution increment per member is the number that decides it, and it is cleaner to show you the real total than to round. The calculator on the pricing page takes your household, principal plus each dependent, and returns the exact all-in figure, the line-by-line breakdown, the live Bitcoin and sats equivalents, and the Total Per Applicant. It is canonical to 21cbi.io/programs/vanuatu, the same schedule we file against. Put your real family into it before you decide anything.
What a family file does not waive.
Two things do not get easier because you applied as a family, and any firm that implies otherwise is selling you a problem. First, every dependent is screened on their own. The Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit runs identity, criminal-record, sanctions, and Interpol checks on each applicant individually, principal and dependents alike. One person clearing does not clear the rest; a single member with an undisclosed record can hold up the whole file. The fix is the same as it is for any Vanuatu application: full disclosure, for everyone, from the start.
Second, everyone attends the one in-person biometric enrolment. Since the Vanuatu Passport (Amendment) Act 2025, each applicant old enough is captured in person for fingerprints and facial image, and the file cannot clear without it. The advantage is that the family attends together, at one of the accredited centers, on one trip; the constraint is that no one on the file is exempt. We price that trip in from the start rather than letting you discover it late. The full biometric logistics sit on the program detail, and the timeline, still 30–60 days for a clean file, is the same whether you file as one person or four.
A family on CIIP.
The figures above are the Development Support Programme, the straight-contribution route most families take. The Capital Investment Immigration Plan is the alternative: $174,000 gross for a single applicant, around $124,000 net once the $50,000 fund subscription is redeemed after its hold. It recovers more capital and costs more up front, and it scales for family the same way, a fixed contribution increment per added member layered on the per-person lines. Whether DSP or CIIP fits a household depends on how much capital you want returned versus how fast and simple you want the file. Both tracks, and the family math for each, are laid out on the pricing page and detailed on the cost page.
The family questions.
Who can be included on one Vanuatu citizenship application?
The principal applicant, a spouse, dependent children, and, in defined cases, dependent parents and grandparents who genuinely depend on the principal and meet the age and dependency conditions. Everyone goes on one file, is granted together, and each receives a Vanuatu passport. The citizenship is hereditary and permanent under Cap. 112, so children carry it forward to their own children.
How much does a Vanuatu family application cost?
The government contribution rises with the family: a spouse and each dependent add fixed increments on top of the $130,000 single-applicant contribution, and due diligence, birth registration, national ID, and passport enrolment scale per person. A family of four runs about $208,000 all-in on the Development Support Programme, which is roughly $52,000 per applicant. The live calculator computes your exact figure and shows the Total Per Applicant line.
Why is a family file cheaper per person than separate applications?
Because the largest cost, the government contribution, is not multiplied by four. The principal pays the full single-applicant contribution and each added family member pays only a fixed increment, not another full contribution. Spread across four people, a family of four lands near $52,000 per applicant against $145,000 for a single standalone file. Four separate files would each carry the full contribution, so they cost far more in total.
Can my parents or grandparents be included on my Vanuatu file?
Dependent parents and grandparents can be included where they genuinely depend on the principal applicant and meet the age and dependency conditions set by the program. Each is added as a dependent with its own fixed contribution increment, its own due diligence, and its own birth registration, national ID, and passport enrolment. The exact increment per dependent is computed by the live calculator.
Is every dependent screened individually for Vanuatu citizenship?
Yes. The Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit screens every applicant on the file individually, principal and dependents alike, with identity, criminal-record, sanctions, and Interpol checks. One person clearing does not clear the others. Every applicant old enough also attends the single in-person biometric enrolment for fingerprint and facial capture; the family attends together, but no one is exempt.
Where these numbers come from.
The family math is canonical to 21cbi.io/programs/vanuatu. Verify any line on the calculator before you move a single sat.
- Legal basis
- Citizenship Act (Cap. 112), under which the citizenship is hereditary and permanent and passes to dependent children; Development Support Programme fees under Order No. 33 of 2019.
- Government contribution
- $130,000 for a single applicant, with a fixed increment added per family member. The per-member increment and the exact family total are computed on the calculator.
- Per-applicant items
- Birth registration and national ID at $2,500 per applicant; passport enrolment at $1,000 per applicant; due diligence at $5,000 per file; advisory at a flat 5% of the government contribution.
- Family example
- A family of four on DSP runs about $208,000 all-in, roughly $52,000 per applicant. CIIP is $174,000 gross, around $124,000 net, for a single applicant and scales the same way.
- Screening & biometrics
- Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit screens each applicant individually; the Vanuatu Passport (Amendment) Act 2025 requires every applicant to attend the in-person biometric enrolment.
- Pricing
- Canonical to 21cbi.io/programs/vanuatu and itemized on the cost page. Timeline 30–60 days for a clean file, whether one applicant or a family.
Keep reading.
What it really costs
Every fee to the line, single applicant through family of four. No number left off the page. →
Before you fileDual citizenship
Whether your home country lets the whole family hold a second nationality, and where it does not. →
Everything elseThe full FAQ
Cost, Bitcoin, timeline, documents, tax, and legitimacy, every question in one place. →
Your family, your number.
Put your real household into the calculator and read the exact all-in, line by line, with the Total Per Applicant. Then, if Vanuatu fits the family, book a confidential file-read with Adam, where the first thirty minutes go straight to your file, not a sales script.