Vanuatu’s investor citizenship schemes operated by Vanuatu since 25 May 2015 has granted over 10,000 passports to foreign nationals (mostly from visa-required countries) between 2015-2021, with a very low rejection rate, according to data published by European Commission.
Passports Issued
According to information provided by Vanuatu’s Passport Office on 14 June 2021, until March 2021, Vanuatu issued over 10 500 passports in exchange for investment under the schemes and by the end of 2020 the Vanuatu authorities had rejected only one application. Note that, the 2021 figure shows only the data up to August. Total passports issued so far up to August 2021 is 10,540 as far as the Vanuatu Citizenship Program is concerned. The application process is managed by specialised agencies located outside Vanuatu (e.g., in Dubai, Thailand and Malaysia)
the countries of origin of successful applicants include Iran and Afghanistan, and other countries whose nationals need a visa for short stays in the EU, including Nigeria, Yemen, Syria, Pakistan and Libya.
CIIP Program Revenues
The CIIP program was temporarily suspended in March 2025 amid growing concerns over compliance with regulations. Amendments were made to the program in May 2025, to improve compliance on investments and reporting.
According to the Citizenship Commission, the CIIP programmes have attracted over 2,000 applicants, generating more than VT10 billion (US$81,531,407) in investments, which are held or managed by the designed “Master Agents”.
IMF Report
According to IMF, Revenues from the citizenship program stood at around 7 percent of GDP in 2024, down from a high of 14 percent of GDP in 2020.
The IMF stated significant increase in ECP revenues recorded in the first half of 2025 likely reflects recent changes to the Citizenship program, including the use of invoicing through the government’s financial management system, which remains to be verified if the actual receipts are commensurate with the invoices.