Vanuatu Passport Cost 2026: Full CBI Price Breakdown.
Every fee, in full, in one place. A single applicant is $145,000 all-in on the donation route. One mobility note up front, because it changes who Vanuatu is for: the passport no longer carries Schengen or UK visa-free access, so this is the fast, zero-tax, Asia-Pacific route, not the Europe route. Below: the complete ladder from single to family of four, what the government contribution covers, what the advisory fee includes, and how the donation route compares to the investment route. No “from,” no “contact us for pricing,” no fees buried in fine print.
Which option is for you?
Three quick questions. Most files are a clean fit for the Development Support Programme; the Capital Investment route suits a specific profile. See which is yours.
What are you optimizing for?
How do you think about the money you put in?
A multi-year capital hold and a redemption process: how does that sit?
DSP is your clean fit.
The full DSP ladder, single through family of four.
Each figure is all-in: government contribution, the flat 5% advisory, due diligence, civil registration, and passport enrolment. The government contribution scales with family size; the flat fees apply per applicant.
The live BTC calculator on the pricing page denominates every line in sats alongside USD for any family configuration. Government figures verified against Order No. 33 of 2019 (as amended), Citizenship Act, Cap. 112.
What the contribution covers, and what the advisory fee includes.
One line above is intentionally not part of the $145,000: the first call itself. It is $475 via BitSettle (BTC or USDT) or $500 via Stripe, credited in full toward the $6,500 advisory if you retain within 90 days, separate from the $5,000 due diligence and VFIU line. No obligation to proceed.
Most CBI firms charge 15% to 25% of total cost with fees buried in fine print. We charge 5% of the government contribution, flat, and publish every other line. That is the whole difference. For what the figure buys: a 30-to-60-day timeline, zero personal income tax, and 87 destinations weighted to Asia-Pacific after the December 2024 Schengen revocation. The mobility trade-off is covered on the Schengen access page.
DSP and CIIP, cost side by side.
The DSP is a direct donation: $130,000 government contribution, $145,000 all-in for a single applicant, non-refundable. It is the simpler route and the lower gross cost, and it is what most single applicants choose.
The CIIP is an investment route: a $110,000 government contribution plus a $50,000 redeemable Cocoa Sustainable Fund subscription, $174,000 all-in gross for a single applicant. Because the fund is redeemable after a four-year hold, the net cost across that horizon is approximately $124,000, the lowest net figure of the two, though returns are not guaranteed and the gross outlay is higher up front. The fund subscription is a financial instrument, not a fee. Choosing between the two is the only "which one" the program asks; the full comparison is on the pricing page.
Why you will see Vanuatu quoted at four different numbers.
Search the program and you will find it priced from $80,000 to $180,000, often on the same afternoon. The figures are not all wrong; they are answering different questions. Here is which is which, so you can read any quote, ours included, with the right number in mind.
What reaches Vanuatu.
The government contribution itself, fixed by law: $130,000 on the DSP, $110,000 on the CIIP for a single applicant. It is the floor and the largest line, and a quote that headlines this number alone is leaving the rest of the file off the page.
What you actually pay.
The contribution plus the flat 5% advisory and the statutory per-applicant fees: $145,000 all-in for a single DSP application, $174,000 gross on the CIIP. This is the honest number to budget, and it is the one we lead with.
What it costs over time.
On the CIIP only, the $50,000 fund subscription is redeemable after a four-year hold, so the net cost across that horizon is approximately $124,000. It is the lowest figure of the lot, but the gross outlay is higher up front and returns are not guaranteed.
What others advertise.
A number with no breakdown behind it. Some firms quote the contribution alone to look cheap, then add fees after you commit; others fold agent margin into one figure so the same program looks pricier. The fix runs both ways: ask for the file, line by line. Ours is above.
One rule cuts through all four: the government contribution is set by law and cannot be discounted. Any all-in that lands below it is not a better deal; it is an unanswered question. The legitimacy and buyer-protection page covers why.
Priced in Bitcoin, to the line.
Every figure on this page is USD-denominated, because the government contribution is USD-denominated. The live calculator converts the full application into BTC and sats at the current rate, line by line, so you can see exactly what your file costs in Bitcoin today. The entire file, government contribution included, can be settled in BTC, Lightning, or USDT by prior arrangement after compliance clearance; USDC and other non-USDT stablecoins are excluded. cbi.vu completes the official Vanuatu government payments with the relevant authorities on your behalf.
Straight answers on price.
What is the all-in cost for a single applicant?
$145,000 all-in on the DSP donation route: a $130,000 government contribution, a flat 5% advisory fee ($6,500), due diligence and VFIU screening ($5,000), birth registration and national ID ($2,500), and passport enrolment ($1,000). Nothing is quoted after a call.
What does the 21 CBI advisory fee include?
A flat 5% of the government contribution ($6,500 for a single DSP applicant). It covers full application management: program selection, the source-of-funds reconstruction and pre-audit, document preparation, submission to the VFIU and Citizenship Office, and direct access to Adam Juchniewicz, CEO, 21 CBI. It is not a percentage of total cost with fees buried in fine print.
Are there hidden fees?
No. Every government, agent, and document fee is published above. The one variable item is the international biometric administration fee: enrolment in Vanuatu carries the standard $1,000 passport fee, while overseas centers (Dubai, Hong Kong, New Caledonia) add a variable fee invoiced per application at cost, confirmed before you commit. The first call is a separate engagement: $475 via BitSettle (BTC or USDT) or $500 via Stripe, credited in full toward the $6,500 advisory if you retain within 90 days, and it is not part of the $145,000 all-in.
How much does a family application cost?
DSP all-in: single $145,000; couple $169,500; family of three $188,750; family of four $208,000; each additional dependent adds $19,250. The government contribution scales while the flat fees apply per applicant. The live calculator gives your exact configuration.
Can pricing be shown in BTC or sats?
Yes. The pricing page carries a live BTC calculator that denominates every line item in sats alongside USD, using live Bitcoin pricing from CoinGecko. The entire file, government contribution included, can be settled in BTC, Lightning, or USDT by prior arrangement after compliance clearance.
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); the Development Support Programme was established under Order No. 215 of 2016 (in force 1 January 2017), with current fees and agent categories set by Order No. 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 had done the same in July 2023.
- Pricing
- Government contribution and the full fee schedule, canonical to 21cbi.io/programs/vanuatu and itemized line by line above.
Keep reading.
Vanuatu vs St Kitts
Roughly half the cost and a fraction of the wait. The honest value case against the Caribbean benchmark.
The WorkThree file shapes
Single, couple, family. Composited files that show how a real source-of-funds stitch runs.
MethodSource of funds, on-chain
How a Bitcoin position becomes a file the FIU can clear, with no forced sale.
Get the full Vanuatu cost brief.
The Vanuatu Brief carries the cost to the line, alongside the source-of-funds playbook, the process, and the honest trade-offs. The brief by email, then five short, honest follow-ups, then it stops. Or run your exact family configuration on the live calculator first, then book a confidential file-read with Adam.