The EU Council has decided to completely terminate the visa-free travel agreement with Vanuatu. Due to the risks posed by the latter's Investor Citizenship Program (also known as the Gold Passport Program), it was decided to suspend the visa-free agreement with Vanuatu altogether

EU Council has decided to completely terminate the visa-free travel agreement with Vanuatu .

Due to the risks posed by the latter's Investor Citizenship Program (also known as the Gold Passport Program), it has decided to suspend the visa-free agreement with Vanuatu altogether.

Partial suspension of this agreement was passed on March 3, 2022. After the partial suspension was completed, European Commission immediately began dialogue with Vanuatu to address EU 's concerns.

However, according to Security Council , the country has not been able to participate in any meaningful way since then and put Member States at risk.

After careful monitoring and evaluation of the investor citizenship programs in Vanuatu, the EU concluded that these programs are seriously flawed and could pose a risk to the EU, especially due to the extremely low rejection rate. Vanuatu's low rejection rates for these plans have sparked doubts about safety and reliability.

The committee further evaluated that there is no actual existence or residence requirement, as well as short processing time and lack of information exchange with the applicant's country of origin or country of residence, may also pose a risk to the EU.

Granting citizenship to applicants listed in the Interpol database and successful applicants' countries of origin is also considered a risk to the EU.

The decision to completely suspend the visa-free travel agreement with Vanuatu is expected to be announced in the official communiqué and will be implemented from February 4, 2023.

Back in October, when the Commission proposed to suspend visa-free agreements with Vanuatu, it said that these plans allow third-country nationals who require visas to easily obtain nationality from visa-free countries, allowing them to avoid Schengen visa procedures and entry into the EU.

"The Commission evaluated the Investor Citizenship Program implemented in Vanuatu and concluded that such programs pose greater risks to the internal security of member states. Vanuatu's Investor Citizenship Program allows third-country nationals to circumvent the EU's short-term visa process and the assessment of the security and immigration risks it poses," the Commission stressed.

In recent years, Vanuatu has established additional investor citizenship programs, and the number of successful applications has increased significantly. In April 2021, further steps were taken to establish a new citizenship program despite the commitment of the Vanuatu government to implement reforms to resolve the problem.

Vanuatu Passport Project

1. The main applicant is over 18 years old, healthy and has no criminal record;
2. can carry spouse, children under 18 years old, unmarried children aged 18-25, parents over 50 years old;
3. donate to the Vanuatu country

Vanuatu Green Card Project

• The main applicant is over 18 years old;
• has no criminal record;
• The main applicant has at least US$150,000 in the name of the main applicant;
• The accompanying personnel include spouses and unmarried children under the age of 18.