About This Site

Why a site aimed at American readers

Almost everything written about this programme is written for people whose first passport is weak. For a United States citizen the calculation is different in both directions, and the differences are rarely stated plainly by anyone selling the product.

The mobility argument largely disappears: a US passport already reaches more places than a Vanuatu one. The tax argument, which is what American buyers are most often sold, does not exist at all — the United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income wherever they live. What is left is narrower and, for some people, genuinely valuable: a second nationality that exists independently of the United States, obtainable in months without residence requirements.

What we state plainly

That acquiring Vanuatu citizenship costs an American nothing in legal terms — dual nationality is permitted, no notification is required, nothing is surrendered. That it saves nothing in tax terms unless one renounces, which is a separate and irreversible decision with its own exit regime. And that FBAR and FATCA obligations attach to being a US person rather than to which passport is presented.

Where the figures come from

Under the programme's own schedule, a single applicant is charged one hundred and thirty thousand US dollars, with defined increases when a spouse or children are added. For each dependant beyond that, the amount follows the official schedule, and your designated agent will confirm it. A further five thousand is paid before any background check begins and cannot be refunded in any circumstances. Because regulation sets these sums, they are the same no matter who files.

Travel access is stated as eighty-eight destinations, the figure behind the passport's current ranking, rather than the larger totals still circulating from before the European and British suspensions of 2023.

What is not claimed

That an application will be approved — the Citizenship Commission decides. That there is any tax benefit for an American short of renunciation — there is not. And no official status of any kind, either Vanuatu's or America's.

Getting in touch

By using the form. Start by telling us what you want the second passport to accomplish; for anyone holding US citizenship, that question is where a candid discussion has to begin.