The Vanuatu program, dated by the law.
CBI programs change, and most pages do not say when. Fees move, rules tighten, visa-free maps redraw, and a site that does not date its facts is a site you cannot trust on the one that matters. So here is the Vanuatu Development Support Programme as a dated record: every milestone, tied to the instrument that made it, in order. If a number here is ever overtaken, this is the page that changes first.
A fact without a date is a rumor.
The Vanuatu program is not static, and the firms that pretend it is are the ones quoting you a 2018 fee or a pre-2025 “no travel needed” process. We would rather show our work. Below is the program as a chronology, grouped into the legal foundation, the rules that changed, and the mobility shifts. Each entry names the instrument or the authority behind it. The two figures that anchor a buying decision, the $130,000 contribution and the 87-destination map, are current as of this review, and they live in full on the cost page and the Schengen access page.
Written into law.
- 2016
- The investment route was established by Order No. 215 of 2016, with the programme coming into force on 1 January 2017.
- 2018
- The Vanuatu Citizenship Commission, the body that grants citizenship, was constituted under Act No. 34 of 2018.
- 2019
- Order No. 33 of 2019 set the current Development Support Programme fee schedule, effective 24 April 2019: a $130,000 single-applicant government contribution, a reduction from the prior $150,000.
Two changes a new applicant must know.
- Jun 2022
- Name changes after the grant were restricted. You can no longer change your name once citizenship is granted; the passport must match your documents of record, the only exception being evidence of a lawfully renounced prior nationality.
- May 2025
- One in-person biometric enrolment became mandatory, under the Vanuatu Passport (Amendment) Act 2025, which aligned passport issuance with ICAO biometric standards from 1 May 2025. Enrolment is available in Port Vila, Dubai, Hong Kong, and New Caledonia. The “no travel” era is over.
What the passport stopped opening.
- Jul 2023
- The United Kingdom introduced a Standard Visitor visa requirement for Vanuatu citizens, effective 19 July 2023.
- Dec 2024
- The Council of the European Union ended Vanuatu's Schengen visa-free access on 12 December 2024, effective 4 February 2025. This is the single most material change to the passport's reach, and most pages bury it. The honest current map is 87 destinations, weighted to the Asia-Pacific corridor.
The full mobility picture, with the marquee destinations that remain and the interactive map, is on the Schengen access page and the visa-free map.
We date facts, and pull figures live.
Bitcoin and exchange rates are pulled live on the calculator, never hardcoded and never reused from an old post. The legal and program facts on this page carry a review date and are checked against the Citizenship Act, the relevant Orders, and the Government of Vanuatu's own publications. If you find a line here that the law has overtaken, it is a defect, and the cost page and the Schengen page are the canonical figures to trust over any stale third-party summary.
Is it still current?
Is the Vanuatu citizenship program still open?
Yes. The Development Support Programme operates under the Citizenship Act, Cap. 112, with the fee schedule set by Order No. 33 of 2019, administered by the Vanuatu Citizenship Commission and screened by the VFIU. cbi.vu reviews these facts on a cadence and dates them on this page; the canonical figures sit on the cost page.
Has the Vanuatu program changed recently?
The two changes that matter most to a new applicant are recent. In May 2025 the Passport (Amendment) Act 2025 made one in-person biometric enrolment mandatory. And in December 2024 the EU ended Schengen visa-free access, effective February 2025, with the UK having already introduced a visa requirement in July 2023. The contribution figures themselves have been stable.
When did Vanuatu lose Schengen and UK visa-free access?
The Council of the European Union ended Schengen visa-free access on 12 December 2024, effective 4 February 2025. The UK introduced a Standard Visitor visa requirement on 19 July 2023. The honest current reach is 87 destinations, weighted to Asia-Pacific. Full detail on the Schengen access page.
Is the $130,000 government contribution figure current?
Yes. Order No. 33 of 2019 set the Development Support contribution at $130,000 for a single applicant, effective 24 April 2019, down from the prior $150,000. The full fee schedule, with due diligence, civil registration, and enrolment, is itemized on the cost page.
Why do other Vanuatu citizenship sites show different numbers?
Three reasons. Some quote stale figures from before Order No. 33 of 2019. Some bundle agent margin into the headline so the same program looks pricier. And some still advertise a document-only process from before the May 2025 biometric rule. We date every fact here and itemize every fee on the cost page, so you can check ours against the law.
Every date, to an instrument.
We cite the law and the date, not the marketing. Verify any line here before you move a single sat.
- Establishment
- Order No. 215 of 2016 established the investment route; the programme came into force 1 January 2017.
- Fee schedule
- Order No. 33 of 2019, effective 24 April 2019, set the current $130,000 single-applicant contribution.
- Commission
- Act No. 34 of 2018 constituted the Vanuatu Citizenship Commission.
- Biometric standard
- Vanuatu Passport (Amendment) Act 2025; mandatory in-person biometric enrolment from May 2025.
- Mobility
- Council of the EU decision of 12 December 2024 (effective 4 February 2025); UK Standard Visitor visa from 19 July 2023; Henley Passport Index, 2026, 87 destinations.
Keep reading.
Is it legitimate?
The legal basis, how to verify your agent, and why a too-cheap quote is a warning. →
The MathWhat it really costs
Every current fee to the line, single applicant through family of four. →
MobilityThe Schengen question
What changed in December 2024, and the 87 destinations that remain. →
The facts, dated. The math, shown.
You have the timeline. The current cost is itemized to the line on the cost page, and a confidential file-read with Adam is the fastest way to test whether today's program fits today's file.