Vanuatu citizenship through investment

The Vanuatu Government (Via Its authorised bodies) has delegated the worldwide promotion and commercialisation of the Programme to its commercial arm the Vanuatu Registry Services Limited (VRS).

The people of Vanuatu have long been aware of the country’s potential and have been seeking to attract foreign investment that would enable them to develop the required infrastructure to enhance the country’s reputation as a developing offshore financial centre and realize its potential as an exotic tourist attraction.

Vanuatu has long been a favorite of investors as it offers numerous benefits for international investors and entrepreneurs. Among others, there are no income taxes, no capital gains tax, no death duties, no withholding tax and low labour costs while the facilities and expertise are world standard

We have been appointed as sole agent for the Russian and CIS Market and are delegated the function of promoting and implementing the programme amongst CIS countries and their citizens.

The programme has been developed over the last five years by a team of international lawyers and consultants from around the world so as to create The Rolls Royce of citizenship programmes and as we believe the best value for money citizenship programme available today.

Unlike most programmes, the acquisition of Vanuatu citizenship works on a country by country quota system, so that only a select number of applicants from each country are ever granted citizenship. This quota system ensures the integrity and reputation of the citizenship and guarantees its future.

The benefits of the programme include:

WHY VANUATU?

Vanuatu is a group of 80 unspoilt tropical islands located between Australia and New Zealand and literally 30,000 miles away from the worlds’ political and economic problems.

The government is a parliamentary democracy of stable laws based on The English legal system. The Judiciary who implements and interprets the laws is probably the most independent judiciary in the world. Judges are appointed from a list of commonwealth countries to sit for short periods.

The Country obtained independence from British/French colonial control in 1980 and has since maintained fierce independence from the worlds super powers. This independence is reflected in the fact that all produce in Vanuatu is organic, genetically modified foods are so far not allowed, and most important of all Vanuatu believes in freedom from all personal tax. All its citizens’ income is tax free including wages, investment income and foreign and local sourced income.

PORT VILLA

Port Villa is the country’s financial capital and has been termed the Bahamas of the South Pacific.

Although quite small, the town has a well-developed banking and financial infrastructure with approximately 7 banks serving the offshore financial industry and a range of highly professional lawyers, accountants and financial advisers.

In the history of Vanuatu no single investor has ever had his assets or bank accounts frozen or confiscated. Due to Vanuatu’s bank secrecy and privacy laws some of the world’s wealthiest people hold secret trust accounts in Vanuatu’s banking system, but thankfully you will never find out who they are and nor will any government, agency or creditor.

Because of Vanuatu’s relatively recent independence (45 years is not a long time in a country’s life), the nation (of only 300,000 people) is very keen to attract the right kind of Citizen and is also open to foreign investment.

Investment opportunities for resorts, casinos, aquaculture and agriculture operations, financial and banking institutions and residential developments as well as of course all tourism operations are supported with open arms.

The government here is truly accountable to its citizens, there are very few countries in the world where you can have coffee with the prime minister on a Sunday afternoon and discuss a proposal for the countries development. Vanuatu is such a country. Its politicians and its senior administrators are always open to discussions and meetings and are committed to supporting their foreign investors and new citizens.

So if we were to summaries the benefits of living and investing in Vanuatu in a few words:

• Vanuatu is virtually free of serious crime, there are no assaults on foreigners or tourists and certainly nothing like murder or rape that you would see in most countries, indeed apart from minor thefts Vanuatu is probably one of the safest countries sin the world.
• Vanuatu has two excellent private schools which are run by international teachers from France and Australia respectively. For extremely low cost, children are educated in the French Baccalaureate (with French teachers coming from France) or the Australian curriculum. Vanuatu also has the world ranking university (university of the South Pacific).
• Vanuatu has mostly excellent weather all year, being 26 degrees Celsius in winter and around 33 in summer. The sun shines brightly all year round and there is little rain falls except for the rainy season, which lasts two months. There is a hurricane season in Vanuatu from February to May but these hurricanes mostly do not damage property or life. However, this year’s hurricane was the exception, and was once in a 100 year event.
• Vanuatu boasts a large variety of organic tropical food, fruits fish meat and vegetables home grown without fertilizer or additives and no genetically modified crops are allowed. The waters and beaches are pristine and there is a huge variety of things to do from sailing, fishing, horse riding and bush walking to discovering more than eighty islands. Also there are no poisonous animals or insects in Vanuatu.
• Port Villa is a small but well serviced city with a variety of banks, restaurants, nightclubs, casinos, supermarkets and resorts. And of course life here is absolutely tax free.

Apart from all of that, there is a beautiful Russian community in Vanuatu:

• If you have heard of Vanuatu, you probably have heard of it partly because of the efforts of Nicolai Michoutouchkine, a Russian emigre, whose parents escaped Soviet Russia during the revolution and settled in France.
• Nikolai is rightly called the Gauging of Vanuatu and for over thirty years was responsible for bringing Vanuatu and its traditions and culture to the world. Michoutouchkine and his partner Pelioko travelled all over Russia and The Ukraine bringing Pacific art to the West.
• Because of their quest over the years, many famous Russian and Ukrainian artists, scientists and businessmen have visited the unspoilt islands of Vanuatu and some like Michoutouchkine have fallen in love with the land and its people and have called it home.
• Indeed in 2009 Nikolai turned Russian eyes on Vanuatu by erecting a monument to Vasiliy Golovnin who in the 1800s was the first Russian mariner to “discover” Vanuatu.

VANUATU’S CITIZENSHIP PROGRAMME

The Capital Investment Immigration Plan (CIIP) was initially proposed by VRS in early 2012 and fully adopted by the Government of Vanuatu in April 2014.

The objective of the plan is to create local jobs, stimulate the economy and keep the national budget balanced.

To facilitate and attract overseas investors, Vanuatu has passed and enacted all necessary legislation and regulations, even going so far as to change its Constitution to recognize dual citizenship, which was not recognized until the Constitution was changed by a two-thirds majority of Parliament in December 2012.

CIIP FEATURES:

Holders of dual nationality in Vanuatu may not engage in any of the following activities which would forfeit their citizenship:

• Hold or serve in any public office.
• Be involved in Vanuatu politics.
• Fund activities that would cause political instability in Vanuatu.
• Affiliate with or form any political parties in Vanuatu.
• Stand as a candidate or vote at any of the following elections.
• General election for Members to Parliament.
• Provincial election for members to a Provincial Government Council.
• Municipal election for members to a Municipal Council.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Applicants must be over the age of 18 when submitting their application.
2. Applicants should have no less than $260,000 dollars of net personal assets when submitting their application.
3. Within one month after the application has been approved in principle, the applicant should deposit the full fee of US$260,000 with Vanuatu Registry Services (VRS), Deputy Commissioner of the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission.
4. Applicants must submit an original certificate of no criminal record from the jurisdiction in which he/she has resided during the last 12 months and (if different) the jurisdiction of his/her principal nationality.
5. Applicants should provide evidence that they are solvent and financially able to maintain themselves and their dependents without depending on income from any employment or business arranged in Vanuatu.

Documents required for CIIP Application:

PROCESS:

Applicant completes application form set and required supporting documents as described above and submits to his authorized CIIP consultant/agent.

The application form set comprises:

1. Application for residence for applicant, spouse (if the spouse so elects) and named dependants;
2. Application for citizenship for the above;
3. Separate applications for passports for applicant, spouse and each dependant;
4. Agreement with VRS for provision of Vanuatu international company and its maintenance for 7 years at VRS expense;
5. The CIIP agent submits the documents to the Hong Kong Office of VRS which vets them, provides the Vanuatu international company and submits to the Vanuatu Government for processing by the Citizenship Commission and Immigration Services;
6. Following satisfactory inspection of the documents and completion of any necessary checks, an officer of the Citizenship commission and Immigration Services issues Approval in Principle.
7. Within one month of receiving Approval in Principle, the applicant must deposit $260,000 with VRS in Hong Kong;
8. The Citizenship Commission’s Screening Committee will then review and submit to the Citizenship Commission for final approval at its next meeting;
9. The Commission may approve or reject any application in its discretion but, upon refusal, the applicant’s deposit will be refunded in full less processing fees of US$25,000. To date no application that has received approval in principle has been rejected by the Commission;
10. Upon final approval by the Citizenship commission, the applicant, spouse and each dependant must attend a meeting in Vanuatu or Hong Kong to swear an Oath/Affirmation of Allegiance and provide thumb prints in the presence of an officer of the Citizenship Commission or Government Minister;
11. At that meeting or within one week thereafter the applicant, spouse and each dependant will be presented their Certificates of Citizenship, passports and residence cards;
12. All sums paid for the application must be paid to VRS to its account at HSBC by cheque or SWIFT remittance. Cash will not be accepted.

The above fees do not include ancillary services such as translation, editing, notarization, bank charges, financial service, medical check, legal, accounting and valuation fees, travel and accommodation or other similar outgoings.

The average time for an application to be processed from submission of application to grant is one month.

Disclaimer!

The information contained on the webpage is of a general nature and is intended to be used as a guide only. Please contact 5 Stars Europe for specific advice on your business needs.