Executive Summary 

Vanuatu’s citizenship-by-investment (CBI) program, often referred to as the “golden passport” scheme, currently requires the lowest investment to acquire an alternate citizenship among the Pacific countries–USD $130,000. Vanuatu passport holders can travel visa-free or with visa-on-arrival to over 100 countries, including most of Southeast Asia, Singapore, and Russia. Notably, the European Union and the United Kingdom were on the list until 2022. However, Vanuatu’s CBI has become a significant security concern for intelligence agencies worldwide. By offering passports for a relatively low investment, the Pacific island nation has attracted a variety of undesirable individuals, including sanctioned Russian oligarchs, intelligence operatives, and high-net-worth individuals seeking to evade scrutiny. Relatedly, Vanuatu is a crypto-friendly country.  

International scrutiny of the program is growing, but termination of the CBI program would end a revenue-generating program on which the government has relied for income. Vanuatu’s vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change make its reliance on foreign aid and investment critical, and if international pressure on its CBI program leads to financial isolation, Vanuatu may struggle to sustain essential development projects.