{"id":"vanuatu-self-funded-residence","name":"Vanuatu Self-Funded Residence Visa","type":"RBI","status":"operational","country":"Vanuatu","country_code":"VU","url":"https://www.mirabelloconsultancy.com/immigration/vanuatu-self-funded-residence-visa","min_investment":{"amount":null,"currency":"VUV","route":"Income certified by a bank operating in Vanuatu of at least VUV 250,000 a month (VUV 500,000 with a spouse or de facto partner), plus a refundable immigration bond (Immigration Act No. 17 of 2010 s.30; Regulation 15 form). Proof of income, not an investment"},"qualification_basis":"financial_means","investment_routes":null,"family_pricing":null,"processing_time":null,"processing_time_note":"No processing time is published for the self-funded residence visa in the form, checklists or pages read; the five-working-day rule in s.42 applies only to foreign investors with a VIPA approval certificate. Application charge per adult: VUV 57,600 (1 year), VUV 158,400 (3 years), VUV 259,200 (5 years) or VUV 511,200 (10 years); a change of status in the country costs VUV 100,000. A recent police clearance from the country of origin (the form asks for each country lived in for 12 months or more in the past 5 years) and a recent medical certificate are required. Residence visa holders may take employment under the Labour (Work Permits) Act and run business activities under the Business Licence Act, the Foreign Investment Promotion Act and the Companies Act (s.45(2)). (unverified)","visa_free_count":88,"passport_index_rank":null,"key_destinations":null,"travel_access":null,"minimum_stay":null,"tax_note":null,"path_to_citizenship":"Naturalisation after 10 years of continuous legal residence (Department of Immigration page on citizenship by naturalization); the Department's FAQ recognises dual citizens.","highlights":["Residence visa of 1, 3, 5 or 10 years on independent means; no minimum age in any official text read","No tax on income or gains (wealth and inheritance tax not yet officially confirmed); the bond size, processing time and any presence rule are not published"],"atomic_answer":"Vanuatu grants a residence visa of 1, 3, 5 or 10 years on the self-funded resident ground to people with income certified by a bank operating in Vanuatu of at least VUV 250,000 a month, or VUV 500,000 with a spouse or de facto partner (Immigration Act No. 17 of 2010 s.30 and the Regulation 15 application form). No investment is required and no minimum age appears in the official texts, but a refundable immigration bond of unpublished size is lodged at the National Bank of Vanuatu. Vanuatu levies no tax on income, profits or capital gains.","fees":null,"last_updated":"2026-10-11","data_freshness":null,"mirabello_index":{"composite":54.3,"rank_overall":null,"rank_in_type":null,"scores":{"mobility":55,"path":44,"stability":65},"confidence":0.43},"regulatory_status":{"fatf_list":null,"eu_tax_list":"annex_i","us_sanctions":null,"oecd_crs_high_risk_scheme":true,"as_of":"2026-06","note":"Factual status as published by the FATF and the EU Council. Inclusion reflects AML/CFT or tax-governance work programmes, changes regularly (several reputable jurisdictions have been listed and delisted), and its practical impact varies by use-case. Always linked to the official source.","sources":["https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/sub-issues/international-standards-on-tax-transparency/residence-citizenship-by-investment.html","https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions/"],"oecd_crs_note":"Names JURISDICTIONS whose investment-migration schemes meet OECD risk criteria for circumventing Common Reporting Standard tax reporting (low/no personal income tax on offshore assets + <90 days physical presence). It is a tax-transparency monitoring list, NOT a statement on programme legitimacy; in practice financial institutions apply additional residence/tax checks to documents from these schemes."},"processing_stages":null,"required_documents":null,"biometric_enrolment":null,"dependant_additions":null,"nationality_naturalisation":null,"retirement":{"route_name":"Vanuatu residence visa, self-funded resident ground (independent means, no age limit)","region":"Asia-Pacific","tags":["retirement","passive-income"],"income_requirement":{"amount":250000,"currency":"VUV","period":"month","basis":"either","per_dependant":250000,"note":"Income certified by a bank operating in Vanuatu: VUV 250,000 a month for the principal applicant and VUV 500,000 a month if a spouse or de facto partner is included (VUV 250,000 per person). Dependent children cannot be included in a self-funded application, so the per-dependant figure applies to a spouse or partner only. The texts do not define eligible income types, so pension and passive income are neither confirmed nor excluded, and whether the income must actually be paid into a Vanuatu account is not stated. Renewal asks for a statement or certification of continuous monthly income of VUV 250,000. Holders of a self-funded retiree permit issued before 7 February 2011 face lower legacy thresholds of VUV 150,000 and VUV 300,000."},"net_worth_or_deposit_option":{"amount":null,"currency":"VUV","kind":"refundable_deposit","required":true,"note":"Immigration bond lodged at the National Bank of Vanuatu (self-funded checklist, item 7), set by the Principal Immigration Officer to cover the cost of locating and repatriating the holder and dependants (Immigration Act s.61(2)); the amount is not published. Returned with interest within 7 days of permanent departure, on the grant of a visa needing no security, on citizenship, or to the estate on death; forfeited if a visa condition is breached or the holder is removed (ss.62 and 63). (unverified)","source":"https://immigration.gov.vu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/RESIDENCY_VISA-SELF-FUNDED_CHECKLIST_V2.pdf","kind_original":"refundable_bond"},"stay_requirement":{"days_per_year":null,"max_continuous_absence_days":null,"stated_by_official_source":false,"rule":null,"note":"No minimum stay or absence limit appears in the Immigration Act, the Regulation 15 form or the self-funded checklists. That is not proof that none exists: Order 180 of 2011 could not be read; confirm before relying on it."},"foreign_income_tax":{"treatment":"exempt","label":"No personal income tax: foreign income is not taxed.","note":"Vanuatu levies no tax on income, profits or capital gains: the Government of Vanuatu Budget 2026 Volume 1 (Table 8, line A111 'Taxes on income, profits, and capital gains') shows zero revenue for 2023 to 2025 and forecast 2026 to 2030, and the Customs and Inland Revenue list of administered Acts has no income tax Act. Foreign pensions, interest, dividends and gains are therefore untaxed. Taxes that do exist are VAT, turnover tax, business licences, customs and excise, and a Rent Tax of 12.5% on gross rent from long-term residential leases of land in Vanuatu (the first VUV 200,000 per six months is exempt for individuals), which does not reach rent from property abroad. No wealth or inheritance tax was found, but that rests on their absence from the budget classification and the list of Acts, not on an express official statement. An income-tax or salary-tax reform has been discussed (Budget 2026 Volume 1) but is not enacted; recheck before relying on this. (unverified)","source":"https://doft.gov.vu/images/Budget%20Book/2026/2026%20Budget%20Book%20Volume%201_English.pdf","tax_residence_caveat":"Tax follows tax residence, not the permit: the treatment applies once you are tax-resident there. Information, not tax advice."},"path_to_pr":"Visa of 1, 3, 5 or 10 years at the applicant's choice; a visa cannot be renewed, so each renewal is a new grant (Immigration Act s.46).","path_to_citizenship":"Naturalisation after 10 years of continuous legal residence (Department of Immigration page on citizenship by naturalization); the Department's FAQ recognises dual citizens.","processing_note":"No processing time is published for the self-funded residence visa in the form, checklists or pages read; the five-working-day rule in s.42 applies only to foreign investors with a VIPA approval certificate. Application charge per adult: VUV 57,600 (1 year), VUV 158,400 (3 years), VUV 259,200 (5 years) or VUV 511,200 (10 years); a change of status in the country costs VUV 100,000. A recent police clearance from the country of origin (the form asks for each country lived in for 12 months or more in the past 5 years) and a recent medical certificate are required. Residence visa holders may take employment under the Labour (Work Permits) Act and run business activities under the Business Licence Act, the Foreign Investment Promotion Act and the Companies Act (s.45(2)). (unverified)","official_source":"https://immigration.gov.vu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/APPLICATION_FOR_RESIDENCY_VISA.pdf","legal_basis":"Immigration Act No. 17 of 2010 (in force 7 February 2011): s.30 (residence visa, 1 to 10 years), s.44 (general conditions), s.45(2) (work and business), s.46 (a visa cannot be extended or renewed, so each renewal is a new grant), s.47 (cancellation, including no financial means) and ss.60 to 63 (security, forfeiture and refund). The income thresholds come from the official Regulation 15 application form and the self-funded checklists (version 2.1, 2023), not from the Immigration Visa Regulation Order No. 180 of 2011, as amended, which could not be read.","as_of":"2026-10-11"},"golden_retirement":{"standard":"Mirabello Golden Retirement Index","applies_to":"Vanuatu residence visa, self-funded resident ground (independent means, no age limit)","tier":"partial","tier_label":"Partial: meets most of the standard, with one gap","score":57,"confidence_grade":"B","renewal_category":"every 10 years, no permanent status","renewals_before_pr":null,"pillars":{"tax":25,"presence":8,"financial":4,"durability":10,"processing":2,"healthcare":3,"family_work_mobility":3,"pr_citizenship":2},"reasons":[],"as_of":"2026-10-11","methodology_version":"1.1.0-2026-10-11"},"record_kind":"retirement_route","region":"Pacific","provider":"Mirabello Consultancy","source":"Mirabello Consultancy","verified_by":"Mirabello Consultancy (IMC member, ACAMS certified)","book_a_consultation":"https://www.mirabelloconsultancy.com/contact-us-for-your-free-consultation","terms":"https://www.mirabelloconsultancy.com/ai","disclaimer":"Provided by Mirabello Consultancy Ltd. for general information only, indicative and subject to change without notice; not legal, financial, tax, or immigration advice, nor an offer or solicitation. Programmes are operated and governed solely by the respective sovereign governments. No warranty of accuracy or completeness; Mirabello accepts no liability for reliance on this information. © Mirabello Consultancy Ltd. This data and its selection, structure and provenance are Mirabello's proprietary compilation — permitted for interactive, attributed use only; systematic bulk extraction, scraping, or redistribution to rebuild a competing dataset is prohibited (acceptable-use terms: https://mcp.mirabelloconsultancy.com/v1/terms). Terms: https://www.mirabelloconsultancy.com/ai","data_updated":"2026-10-12T19:35:18.892Z"}