Vanuatu Citizenship by Investment: the complete guide.
This is the most complete single answer to the question you typed. Vanuatu citizenship by investment is the fastest serious second-passport route in the world: hereditary, permanent, and obtainable in 30 to 60 days for $145,000 all-in, with the whole file payable in Bitcoin. Below is the program end to end: what citizenship by investment is, the two legal routes, the fee ladder to the line, the timeline, eligibility, mobility, tax, and the trade-offs most brochures leave out. One program, known better than anyone, sold by the people who actually file it.
What citizenship by investment actually is.
Citizenship by investment is a legal pathway by which a sovereign nation grants citizenship in exchange for a government-approved contribution. It is not residency, not a visa, and not the sale of a passport as a product. In Vanuatu, it is a statute-defined transaction under the Citizenship Act, Cap. 112: a defined contribution, a defined fee, a defined timeline, and defined due diligence, administered by the Vanuatu Citizenship Commission (VCC) and screened by the Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit (VFIU).
The grant is the sequence that keeps it lawful. You make a contribution through a licensed designated agent of the Government of Vanuatu, your source-of-funds and due-diligence file is screened by the VFIU with Interpol National Central Bureau checks, you attend one mandatory in-person biometric enrolment, and then the Citizenship Commission grants the citizenship. The passport is issued after the grant, not before. That order is what separates a real CBI program from the tabloid "golden passport" caricature.
DSP and CIIP, the only "which one" the program asks.
Vanuatu runs two citizenship-by-investment tracks, and choosing between them is the only structural decision the program asks of you. Both are screened by the same VFIU and granted by the same Citizenship Commission; they differ only in how the money is structured. Most single applicants choose the DSP. The full program mechanics live in the Vanuatu CBI guide.
The DSP.
The Development Support Programme is a direct donation: $130,000 government contribution, $145,000 all-in for a single applicant, non-refundable. Simpler, lower-gross, and what most single applicants choose. Detailed on the program page.
The CIIP.
The Capital Investment Immigration Plan folds a $50,000 redeemable fund subscription onto a $110,000 contribution: $174,000 all-in gross, approximately $124,000 net after the four-year redemption. Lower net cost, higher up-front outlay, returns not guaranteed.
The full fee ladder to $145,000 all-in.
No "from," no hidden line items. Most CBI firms charge 15% to 25% of total cost with fees buried in fine print. We charge a flat 5% of the government contribution and put the rest of the arithmetic on the same screen.
Family pricing scales the government contribution and applies the flat fees per applicant; the CIIP investment route is $174,000 gross, approximately $124,000 net after the four-year fund redemption. The full ladder, with a live BTC calculator priced in sats alongside USD, is on the pricing page.
30 to 60 days, because nothing slows it down.
Vanuatu is the fastest serious citizenship by investment on the planet, and the reason is structural, not promotional: there is no residency requirement, no language test, no interview, and no annual cap. Government processing runs 30 to 60 days from a complete file, and the VFIU reports within approximately one week of completed screening. Fees are staged: a due-diligence payment on lodgement, a portion of the processing fee on submission, and the balance after approval in principle by the Citizenship Commission; on the CIIP, the fund investment is due alongside the final payment.
From first engagement, plan on roughly two to four months including document preparation, because the file is the part that takes real work. The speed is real, and so is the front-loaded effort that earns it. The stage-by-stage timeline lives on the program timeline page.
Who qualifies, and the single visit nobody can skip.
The main applicant must be at least 18, hold a clean criminal record, document a lawful source of funds, and be able to fund the contribution. A spouse, dependent children, and in defined cases dependent parents can be included in the same file. There is no residency requirement and no obligation to ever live in Vanuatu.
One short visit. Four accredited centers.
Under the Vanuatu Passport (Amendment) Act 2025, which aligned issuance with ICAO biometric standards from May 2025, one in-person enrolment is mandatory for fingerprint and facial-image capture. We schedule it at the center most convenient for your travel: Port Vila, Dubai, Hong Kong, or New Caledonia. No travel to Vanuatu itself is required, but the visit is real. We never claim the file is done without leaving home, because it is not. The honest framing is remote except for one in-person biometric visit.
On-chain wealth is the starting point, not a flag.
Citizenship by investment is a vetting process before it is anything else, and for a Bitcoiner the source-of-funds reconstruction is the part that decides the outcome: where the coins came from, exchange withdrawals documented on both halves, mining or payment income, and a defensible cost basis. We pre-audit that history before submission so the VFIU sees a file that answers its questions in advance. The full playbook is on the source of funds page.
The entire file, government contribution and professional fees alike, can settle in BTC, Lightning, or USDT after compliance clearance; cbi.vu completes the statutory payments with the Vanuatu authorities on your behalf, and credit cards and bank transfers are accepted as needed. There is no forced sale and no demand that you liquidate a long-held position into a bank first. How the payment runs end to end is on the pay in Bitcoin page.
87 destinations, weighted to the Pacific.
The Vanuatu passport reaches 87 destinations, visa-free or visa-on-arrival, concentrated in the Asia-Pacific corridor: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Pacific Islands Forum bloc, the region leading the world on Bitcoin regulation. The honest trade-off, which most pages bury: the European Union revoked Vanuatu's Schengen visa-free access in December 2024, and the United Kingdom now requires a Standard Visitor visa. If frequent Europe access is central to your plan, Vanuatu is not the right tool, and you should know that before you spend $145,000. The full explanation is on the Schengen access page.
Zero across the board, stated honestly.
What Vanuatu does not tax.
Zero personal income tax, zero capital gains, zero inheritance, and zero corporate income tax; the only material tax is a 15% VAT on local consumption. The tax-exempt International Business Company (IBC) framework, a holding vehicle with minimal reporting, has been in force since 1993 and is supervised by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission. This is a fact about Vanuatu, not a promise about your worldwide position.
CRS, and what a passport is not.
Vanuatu participates in the Common Reporting Standard, the OECD framework for automatic exchange of financial account information; account data is exchanged with your country of tax residence. Self-custodied Bitcoin sits outside CRS because the standard covers institutions, not your keys. A passport is not tax residency, and US persons remain subject to citizenship-based taxation. The full structure is on the tax and residency page; consult a qualified tax advisor regarding your specific situation.
Hereditary, permanent, and yours to keep alongside.
Vanuatu citizenship is hereditary and permanent under the Citizenship Act, Cap. 112: it passes to your children and theirs, and it cannot be revoked at a government's whim the way a visa can. Dual citizenship is allowed, so you keep your existing nationality; whether your current country permits dual nationality is a separate question for your own jurisdiction. Vanuatu is a Commonwealth member and a member of the Pacific Islands Forum. The plain-English overview of Vanuatu citizenship generally, including dual-citizenship rights and the honest trade-offs, sits one click away.
The fit, and the one budget exit.
Speed, structure, and sats.
Vanuatu suits the buyer who values velocity (a clean file to a passport in 30 to 60 days), the Bitcoin-native investor drawn by the zero-tax structure and the IBC framework, and the traveler whose mobility is genuinely served by the Asia-Pacific corridor. For all of them, the speed and the structure carry the decision, and Europe was never the use case.
Under $130,000? São Tomé.
If $130,000 is ahead of where you are, the cheaper way into a second passport is São Tomé & Príncipe, which starts at $90,000. We say it once, as a courtesy, because the honest answer to a sub-budget file is a real number rather than a hard sell. For everyone who can fund the contribution, Vanuatu is the fastest serious file in its class.
The direct answers.
What is Vanuatu citizenship by investment?
It is the legal pathway, under the Citizenship Act, Cap. 112, by which the Republic of Vanuatu grants permanent, hereditary citizenship in exchange for a government-approved contribution. It is administered by the Vanuatu Citizenship Commission and screened by the Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit. There are two routes: the DSP donation route and the CIIP investment route, detailed in the Vanuatu CBI guide.
How much does Vanuatu citizenship by investment cost?
For a single applicant on the DSP donation route, $145,000 all-in: a $130,000 government contribution, $6,500 advisory at a flat 5%, $5,000 due diligence and VFIU screening, $2,500 birth registration and national ID, and $1,000 passport enrolment. Family pricing scales the government contribution and applies the flat per-applicant fees. The full ladder, with a live BTC calculator, is on the pricing page.
What is the difference between the DSP and the CIIP?
The DSP, the Development Support Programme, is a direct donation: $130,000 contribution, $145,000 all-in for a single applicant, non-refundable. The CIIP, the Capital Investment Immigration Plan, folds a $50,000 redeemable fund onto a $110,000 contribution: $174,000 all-in gross, approximately $124,000 net after the four-year redemption. The DSP is simpler and lower-gross; the CIIP has a lower net cost but a higher up-front outlay and returns are not guaranteed.
How long does Vanuatu citizenship by investment take?
Government processing runs 30 to 60 days from a complete file; the VFIU reports within approximately one week of completed screening. From first engagement, plan on roughly two to four months including document preparation. There is no residency requirement, no language test, no interview, and no annual cap, which is what makes the timeline fast.
Can I pay for Vanuatu citizenship in Bitcoin?
Yes. The entire file, government contribution and professional fees alike, can settle in BTC, Lightning, or USDT after compliance clearance. cbi.vu completes the statutory payments with the Vanuatu authorities on your behalf, and credit cards and bank transfers are accepted as needed. On-chain source-of-funds documentation is treated as the normal starting point, not a red flag. The detail is on the pay in Bitcoin page.
How many countries can you visit with a Vanuatu passport?
87 destinations, visa-free or visa-on-arrival, weighted to the Asia-Pacific corridor: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Pacific Islands Forum bloc. Schengen visa-free access was revoked in December 2024, and the United Kingdom now requires a Standard Visitor visa. If Europe is central to your plan, Vanuatu is not the right tool, and we say so on the Schengen access page.
Is Vanuatu a tax haven, and does it report under CRS?
Vanuatu has zero personal income tax, zero capital gains, zero inheritance, and zero corporate income tax; the only material tax is a 15% VAT on local consumption, and the tax-exempt IBC framework has been in force since 1993. Vanuatu participates in the Common Reporting Standard, so financial account information is automatically exchanged with your country of tax residence. A second passport is not tax residency, and US persons remain subject to citizenship-based taxation. Full detail on the tax and residency page.
Where these facts come from.
We cite the law and the data, not the marketing. Verify any line here before you move a single sat.
- Legal basis
- Citizenship Act (Cap. 112), and the Development Support Program established under Order 33 of 2019.
- Passport standard
- Vanuatu Passport (Amendment) Act 2025, which introduced the mandatory biometric enrolment: one in-person visit, from May 2025.
- Screening
- Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit, with Interpol and Vanuatu Citizenship Commission checks on every file.
- Mobility
- Henley Passport Index, 2026: 87 destinations. Schengen visa-free access was revoked in December 2024, effective February 2025; the UK the same month.
- Tax
- Zero personal income, capital gains, inheritance, and corporate income tax; a 15% VAT applies. The IBC framework has been in force since 1993, VFSC-supervised. Vanuatu participates in CRS.
- Pricing
- Government contribution and the full fee schedule, canonical to 21cbi.io/programs/vanuatu and itemized on the pricing page.
Keep reading.
Vanuatu CBI, in full
The operator's guide: the two routes, due diligence, documents, the payment sequence, and the caveats. →
The GuideVanuatu citizenship
How to get it, what it costs all-in, the rights it carries, and the honest trade-offs. →
The MathPricing & BTC calculator
The full fee ladder and family pricing, in USD and sats, with the price pulled live. →
MethodSource of funds, on-chain
How a Bitcoin position becomes a file the FIU can clear, with no forced sale. →
SettlementPay in Bitcoin
BTC, Lightning, and USDT settle the whole file, government contribution included. →
StructureTax & residency
Each zero, the 15% VAT, the IBC framework, and an honest read on CRS. →
Begin with a confidential file-read.
You have the whole program on this page: the routes, the math, the timeline, and the trade-offs. The next step is a confidential Vanuatu file-read with Adam, where the first thirty minutes go straight to the file owner. No junior associate, no chatbot, no obligation. If you would rather read first, the FAQ carries the rest of the questions.