Pay for your Vanuatu citizenship in Bitcoin.
The whole thing. Not a deposit, not the advisory slice, the entire cost: the government contribution, the flat advisory fee, due diligence, civil registration, and enrolment. It settles in BTC, Lightning, USDT, by card, or by bank transfer. You pay cbi.vu; cbi.vu completes the statutory payments with the Vanuatu authorities on your behalf. Every Vanuatu firm we surveyed is fiat-first. This is the one place the passport is priced and paid in Bitcoin.
The whole file, in Bitcoin.
Most firms that say they "accept crypto" mean a deposit, or an advisory invoice, with the real money, the government contribution, still moving by wire. We do not split it. On cbi.vu the entire all-in figure settles in Bitcoin: BTC on-chain, Lightning, or USDT, by prior arrangement and after compliance clearance. Credit cards and bank transfers are accepted as needed. USDC and other non-USDT stablecoins are excluded.
The mechanism is simple and we state it plainly: you settle with cbi.vu in the rail you choose, and cbi.vu, as your advisor, completes the statutory payments with the Vanuatu authorities in the manner they prescribe. You hold Bitcoin; you pay in Bitcoin; the government gets paid the way the law requires. The competitive landscape made this worth building. Survey the Vanuatu market and you will find calculators, brochures, and FAQ tables, and a single shared assumption that you will wire dollars. For a Bitcoiner, that assumption is the friction. Here it is gone.
From a Bitcoin position to a granted passport.
USD fixed, BTC at settlement.
The file is USD-denominated because the government contribution is. The all-in dollar figure is fixed at agreement; the BTC amount is struck against the live rate at the moment you settle, so the value you owe does not drift with the market between agreement and payment.
On-chain, Lightning, or USDT.
Settle from a self-custodied position or an exchange, on the rail you prefer. You do not have to liquidate on a centralized venue and wire fiat. Card and bank transfer remain available for anyone who wants them.
cbi.vu pays the authorities.
cbi.vu completes the government contribution and every statutory line with the Vanuatu authorities in the manner they prescribe. The Bitcoin stops with us; the Republic is paid the way the law requires.
Biometrics, not payment.
The only thing you cannot do remotely is the mandatory biometric enrolment (Port Vila, Dubai, Hong Kong, or New Caledonia). Payment, the application, and the oath are all handled without travel. We never paper over the biometric visit.
The live BTC calculator denominates every line in sats at the current rate, so you can see exactly what your file costs in Bitcoin today.
Source of funds is the real work.
Paying in Bitcoin is the easy part. The part that decides whether a file clears is provenance: documented payer identity, the wallet or exchange the funds come from, and records that tie the Bitcoin to a lawful source the Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit can sign off. We treat an on-chain history as the normal starting point of a clean file, not a problem to explain away. That is the difference between a firm that tolerates Bitcoin and one built for it. The full method, exchange records, wallet-control proofs, the acquisition narrative, mining and OTC and business-income documentation, is on the source-of-funds page, with a downloadable readiness checklist.
A passport is not tax residency.
Funding the contribution means disposing of Bitcoin, and in many jurisdictions disposing of appreciated Bitcoin, including spending it, is a taxable event governed by where you are tax-resident, not by Vanuatu. Vanuatu itself levies zero capital gains tax, but Vanuatu citizenship does not move your tax residence, and the passport does not change where you owe. US citizens, in particular, are taxed on worldwide income regardless of any second passport. This is general information, not tax advice. Run your specific situation past a qualified tax advisor before you move a position; the tax and residency page, and the tax structure, set out what Vanuatu does and does not do.
Paying in Bitcoin.
Can I pay the Vanuatu government contribution in Bitcoin?
Yes. The entire cost, the government contribution included, can be settled in BTC, Lightning, USDT, by card, or by bank transfer after compliance clearance. You pay cbi.vu, and cbi.vu completes the statutory payments with the Vanuatu authorities in the manner they prescribe. No competitor in the Vanuatu market offers all-in Bitcoin settlement; the category is fiat-first.
How is Bitcoin's volatility handled between agreement and payment?
The file is USD-denominated, because the government contribution is. The all-in figure is fixed in USD at agreement; the BTC amount is set against the live rate at the moment of settlement, so the dollar value you owe does not move with the market. The live calculator on the pricing page shows the current BTC and sats figure line by line.
Do I pay on-chain or from an exchange?
Either. On-chain BTC, Lightning, and USDT are all accepted by prior arrangement after compliance clearance. You do not have to liquidate on a centralized exchange and wire fiat; a self-custodied position can settle directly. What matters is that payer identity and wallet or exchange provenance are documented to the standard the file requires.
Can I pay in USDT or another stablecoin?
USDT, yes. USDC and other non-USDT stablecoins are excluded across the Bitcitizen ecosystem and are not accepted. BTC and Lightning are the primary rails; USDT is accepted as part of the trio, and credit cards and bank transfers are accepted as needed.
Does spending Bitcoin to fund the contribution trigger tax?
It can. In many jurisdictions, disposing of appreciated Bitcoin, including spending it, is a taxable event governed by your country of tax residence, not by Vanuatu. Vanuatu levies zero capital gains tax, but Vanuatu citizenship is not Vanuatu tax residency, and a passport does not change where you are taxed. This is general information, not tax advice; consult a qualified tax advisor about your situation before you move a position.
What does cbi.vu need to clear a Bitcoin payment?
Compliance clearance before settlement: documented payer identity, the provenance of the wallet or exchange the funds come from, and records that tie the Bitcoin to a lawful source. This is the same source-of-funds rigor the VFIU applies to the file; an on-chain history is the normal starting point of a clean file, not a red flag.
Are professional fees and government fees both payable in Bitcoin?
Both. The government contribution, the flat 5% advisory fee, due diligence, civil registration, and passport enrolment, every line of the all-in figure, can be settled in BTC, Lightning, USDT, by card, or by bank transfer. cbi.vu completes the official program payments with the relevant authorities on your behalf.
Can I pay by credit card or bank transfer instead?
Yes. Credit cards and bank transfers are accepted as needed for the entire file. Bitcoin is the native rail and the reason cbi.vu exists, but the choice is yours; the same compliance clearance and source-of-funds standard applies regardless of how you settle.
Is paying for citizenship in Bitcoin legitimate?
Yes. Settling in Bitcoin is a payment method, not a shortcut around the law. Every file is screened by the VFIU with Interpol checks, the source of funds must survive scrutiny, and citizenship is granted by the Citizenship Commission under Cap. 112. Digital-asset settlement does not reduce due diligence, sanctions screening, your tax or reporting obligations, or the independent decision of the authorities. The legitimacy page covers it.
The rails, and the rules.
We state the payment offering plainly and tie it to the same compliance the file already runs.
- Payment rails
- BTC, Lightning, and USDT are the primary rails; credit cards and bank transfers accepted as needed. USDC and other non-USDT stablecoins are excluded across the Bitcitizen ecosystem.
- Scope
- The entire all-in cost, the government contribution and every statutory line included, after compliance clearance. cbi.vu completes the statutory payments with the Vanuatu authorities on your behalf.
- Compliance
- Documented payer identity and wallet or exchange provenance, screened to the standard of the Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit with Interpol checks. Source of funds is itemized on the source-of-funds page.
- Pricing
- USD-denominated, converted to BTC and sats live on the calculator. DSP single all-in $145,000; the full ladder on the cost page.
- Tax
- Vanuatu levies zero capital gains tax; Vanuatu citizenship is not Vanuatu tax residency. General information, not tax advice. See the tax structure.
Keep reading.
Source of funds, on-chain
How a Bitcoin position becomes a file the VFIU can clear, with the readiness checklist. →
The MathWhat it really costs
Every fee to the line, priced in USD and convertible to sats on the calculator. →
The AngleCBI for Bitcoiners
Why an on-chain history is the clean starting point, not the problem. →
Run the sats. Then pay in Bitcoin.
See the full file in BTC on the calculator, then book a confidential file-read with Adam to walk the source-of-funds and the settlement before you move a coin.