Vanuatu

Living in Vanuatu, and being taxed by Vanuatu

These are decided by different authorities, under different rules, on different clocks. The one people get wrong is the second.

There is no second clock here, and that is the point people get wrong in the other direction. The passport does not make you a tax resident, and it does not stop you being one somewhere else. Whatever country taxes you today keeps taxing you until you meet ITS rules for leaving, which this route does nothing to satisfy.

The facts, each cited

• US$130,000

  A Development Support Program donation of US$130,000 for a single applicant is a qualifying investment for citizenship.

• US$260,000

  The Capital Investment Immigration Plan sets a US$260,000 investment as a qualifying route to citizenship.

• Real estate route

  A Real Estate Option route also exists as a named programme, published by the Vanuatu Citizenship Programme.

• No residence

  Citizenship is granted directly to investors, with no requirement to reside in Vanuatu before or after the grant.

• Dual kept

  Vanuatu allows individuals to hold dual citizenship, so a new Vanuatu passport can sit alongside the one already held.

• No income tax

  Vanuatu levies no personal income tax; the taxes administered are value added tax, turnover tax, rent tax and licences.

• EU waiver suspended

  The European Union partially suspended the short-stay visa waiver for holders of Vanuatu ordinary passports issued from 25 May 2015, citing the country's investor citizenship schemes.

What an expert actually does, and when

Moving to Vanuatu is four different jobs for four different people, and the order matters more than the choice of any one of them. Here is the sequence, what each person settles, and what to hold them to in writing.

1. First

   A cross-border tax adviser in the country you are leaving

   Before you sell anything, move your family, or claim to have left

   This is the one whose answer can make the rest of the plan pointless, so it is worth knowing before you spend anything on the rest. A residence permit somewhere else is not the same thing as having stopped being tax-resident where you are.

   What only they can settle

   • →Whether and when your tax residence at home actually ends
   • →Which ties (home, family, accounts, memberships, company control) have to be dealt with, and in what order
   • →What you owe on the way out, and what you can elect or defer
   • →Which transactions to complete before you go rather than after

   Ask for it in writing. A written residence and departure-date memo, with the tax on leaving set out asset by asset, and a list of the evidence your position depends on.

2. Second

   An immigration lawyer in the destination

   Six to twelve months before you intend to move

   Routes look interchangeable from outside and are not. Which one you qualify for depends on evidence you may not have gathered yet, and gathering it is often the long pole.

   What only they can settle

   • →Which route your actual income, work history, and assets satisfy
   • →Which authority handles each stage, and whether your entry status has to change first
   • →What proof each requirement takes, and what is missing today
   • →How a partner and children are included, and when

   Ask for it in writing. A route recommendation with the eligibility tested against your documents, plus a dated checklist of what is still missing.

3. Third

   Document authentication and translation

   Only after the lawyer has frozen the list

   Ordering apostilles and translations before the list is settled is the most common way to pay twice. Certified documents also expire, so starting early can be worse than starting late.

   What only they can settle

   • →Which authentication chain each document needs, in its issuing country
   • →What has to be translated, by whom, and to what standard
   • →The order to obtain things in, so nothing expires while waiting for something else

   Ask for it in writing. Authenticated originals and accepted translations, tracked so you know where every document physically is.

4. Fourth

   Local advisers where you land

   Once your status is approved

   Approval is not the same as a working life. Banking, health cover, and a tenancy each have their own requirements, and several of them want the paperwork from the earlier stages.

   What only they can settle

   • →What banking will require of you, and what to prepare before you ask
   • →Which health cover satisfies the local requirement
   • →What a lease commits you to, and what your obligations are on registering it
   • →What you now have to file locally, and when

   Ask for it in writing. A working household: identity documents, an address, cover, banking, and a calendar of what renews when.

OmniFlag is not a law firm or a tax adviser. Experts are retained independently and their engagement letter defines what they advise on, what they file, and what they deliver.

What nobody puts on the Vanuatu brochure

• The European Union partially suspended the short-stay visa waiver for holders of Vanuatu ordinary passports issued from 25 May 2015, citing the investor citizenship schemes, so passports issued under these programmes do not carry Schengen visa-free access.

• US citizens and green-card holders keep US federal tax filing and liability wherever they live, and a Vanuatu passport does not end or reduce that obligation.

• Vanuatu is a small South Pacific jurisdiction, so applicants should expect limited on-island infrastructure and plan document handling and legalisation around that.

  Indicator, not law · OmniFlag desk research, 2026

Common questions

Does the Vanuatu citizenship route require living in Vanuatu?

No. Citizenship is granted directly to investors, with no requirement to reside in Vanuatu before or after the grant.

Can I keep my current citizenship?

Vanuatu allows dual citizenship, so a Vanuatu passport can sit alongside the one already held, with no requirement to renounce it.

How does Vanuatu tax personal income?

Vanuatu levies no personal income tax. The taxes it administers are value added tax, turnover tax, rent tax and licences.

Can a Vanuatu passport be used for visa-free travel to the Schengen area?

Not for passports issued under the investment programmes. The European Union partially suspended the EU-Vanuatu short-stay visa waiver for ordinary passports issued from 25 May 2015, citing the investor citizenship schemes.