Now that Caribbean citizenships require an investment of at least $200,000 plus fees, are they still worth it?
And what of the small South Pacific island country Vanuatu, which is still selling its citizenship for $130,000, including fees? It lost access to Schengen in Europe, so is it still worth considering?
Laszlo and I discussed this in detail. We elaborate on why a Vanuatu passport might be the better option for most Westerners, except for Americans.
As for people from countries without Schengen access, it really depends on their priorities.
You can find out more about the Vanuatu citizenship by investment program and the Caribbean options. You can also get in touch with Laszlo.
It’s more important than ever to have a plan B
I’m not saying these citizenships are what you need, as I don’t know your particular situation, but they could be for a number of people.
The world is increasingly volatile, and history teaches us that being prepared is half the battle.
A good plan B strategy encompasses some or all of the following depending on how prepared you want to be:
– Active residencies
– International bank accounts
– International real estate
– International brokerages
– Offshore precious metals storage
– International health insurance
– Extra drivers licenses
– Extra citizenship(s)
Again, the goal here is not to fall down some rabbit hole. Most people don’t need all of the above. The goal is to tailor a strategy based on what you feel you need for you and your family.
Being measured in your approach is important. It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing too much, which can be a massive waste of time and money.
If you want to work on your plan B strategy, this is one of our specialties. If you want to work directly with me, you can do so here.
To a World of Opportunities,
The Wandering Investor.
Other ways to get Golden Visas and Citizenships by Investment:
- Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment
- Be careful when you obtain a Second Passport in the Caribbean
- St Kitts & Nevis Citizenship by Investment
- Buy affordable real estate to obtain the Egyptian citizenship by Investment
- How to get Residency / a Golden Visa in Italy
- BREAKING NEWS: Caribbean Citizenship by Investment big price increases
- Greece Golden Visa: Residency by Investment
- Turkey Citizenship by Investment – Timelines, Fees, and Traps to Avoid
- Fastest way to get Permanent Residency in Malta
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Transcript of “Vanuatu or Caribbean passport? Which to choose, and why?”
LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello, everyone. Ladislas Maurice from thewanderinginvestor.com. Today, I’m in beautiful Budapest, together with Laszlo, my immigration expert. Laszlo, how are you?
LASZLO: Good, good. Thank you so much.
LADISLAS MAURICE: We’ll be discussing Vanuatu versus Caribbean passports, because it’s a question that often comes up, should I get a Caribbean passport? Should I get a Vanuatu passport in the South Pacific? And there’s this debate going on. Laszlo has been helping people obtain second citizenships for more than three decades now, correct?
LASZLO: That is correct, yes.
Should I get a Vanuatu or Caribbean passport?
LADISLAS MAURICE: So you have a few thoughts to share on the matter. Let’s say, I come to you and I tell you, “Laszlo, I want to get a second citizenship. I want a Plan B. I hear about the Caribbean passports, there’s a few of them. Then I also hear about this little option in the South Pacific, Vanuatu. I’m not too sure what the differences are. Which one should I go for? Which one is best for me?” What would be your approach?
LASZLO: My approach would be to find out, first, what is the intention of the prospective client, why he needs it.
Visa-free travel with Caribbean passport
LASZLO: Many, many people, rich businesspeople and many others simply hate the fact that they have to apply a visa to go to certain countries, mainly developed countries. And for them, the visa-free travel, which the five Caribbean countries could offer, their citizenship could offer visa-free travel to the whole Schengen area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, quite often is China and Russia also, it’s a big plus if their aim is just to make their life easier. Unfortunately, Vanuatu lost its visa-free travel to the United Kingdom and to the European Union in the last two years, that that is, if somebody is looking for ease of travel, then Vanuatu will not be a good choice.
Source of funds for Vanuatu passport
On the other hand, now the Caribbean countries are checking much more thoroughly the source of wealth, how the money which is used for investment, or how the personal wealth of the client was generated. Vanuatu is still not as strong, let’s put it this way. Meaning that if somebody doesn’t want to disclose the information, or as little as necessary information about their own personal wealth, about their financial situation, then most probably Vanuatu is a better choice than the five Caribbean countries. The five Caribbean countries, you have to pay a certain amount as due diligence fee. From the due diligence fee, they appoint local detective agencies to check the applicants’ background and the information what that client provided, while Vanuatu doesn’t do this. That’s a big difference again.
Price of Caribbean passport compared to Vanuatu
LADISLAS MAURICE: And then the price tag.
LASZLO: The price tag now that the Caribbeans increased from $100,000 starting basic amount to $200,000 the minimum donation to $200,000, $230,000, compared to what Vanuatu charges, obviously, are much higher, or, in fact, not always much higher. It depends on the family construction. For a full-member family, in Grenada, I think the donation is $235,000. I have to check the new prices about the additional due diligence fees, while for a full-member family that the donation in Vanuatu is $180,000. Now I understand that $50,000 is a lot of money, but it’s not such a huge difference that it is only the money which decides which one to take.
LADISLAS MAURICE: But for a single applicant, big difference, because Vanuatu is just $130k, right?
LASZLO: Yes, and Grenada is $230k for even a single applicant. So all in all, it depends on the family setup of what could be viable if only the financial consideration are important for the client.
Buying Vanuatu passport with crypto
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. And crypto, it’s possible to get Vanuatu using crypto as well, which is much harder in the Caribbean, or?
LASZLO: During the procedure, if somebody generated his wealth or her wealth in cryptos and wants to use a part of it for getting the citizenship, it is much, much, much easier in Vanuatu than in the five Caribbean countries. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to do that in the Caribbean. So all in all, Vanuatu is definitely a good choice for people who earn the majority of their wealth from crypto.
More Caribbean vs Vanuatu citizenship considerations
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. Right now, we talked about visa-free travel. Let’s say, your client is a Westerner. Let’s say, I come to you as a Westerner, and I tell you, “Laszlo, I’m looking for a second passport. I don’t necessarily need visa travel.” And let’s say that, because personally, I find that Turkey is really interesting, Egypt has a lot to offer, a bit less than Turkey, but there’s a case to be made for Egypt. But let’s say, I don’t want to go for these two countries, for whatever reasons, and I’m really hesitating between Caribbean and Vanuatu, as a Westerner that already has very good visa-free travel. What would your advice be?
LASZLO: It is true that, for example, for an American or Canadian citizen, which they can go visa-free to many, many countries, disadvantage is not really something which is very, very important. Geographical nearness, on the other hand, is definitely a big consideration. If they want to go back to visit relatives, friends, for whatever reason, then they do not have to go from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which is very far away. And I can tell you that it’s hard to reach Vanuatu. If you want to go there, you have to spend at least two days to travel, while from the US, it is a three hours flight, four hours flight from many of the cities to go to the Caribbean. Meaning that the geographical nearness is very, very often a deciding factor of which country to choose.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Let’s say, I’m not looking to live in these countries, I just want a Plan B passport. Like, I don’t want to live in the Caribbean, I don’t want to live in Vanuatu, I just want a Plan B passport.
LASZLO: I would say that even though the five Caribbean countries are now facing problems because they were not careful enough to screen out the bad people from the citizenship programs, I have to say that Vanuatu, if you go to the press and you just search for citizenship of Vanuatu, search citizenship of Dominica, there are more cases related to Vanuatu expressly about because then Vanuatu is not checking the applicant so carefully than the five Caribbean countries. That means that the international reputation, let’s say, you want to open a bank account, you want to do something which needs a kind of a reference for you, then the reputation of Vanuatu is from compared to the Caribbean, I would say, is lower now.
It is mainly, by the way, the main nationality which is going to Vanuatu are Russians. And the reason is that the five Caribbean countries decided not to offer citizenship for them. So that is why Vanuatu could generate enough money from their citizenship program. Otherwise, everybody would say that, yes, price wise, there is a little bit of difference, but let’s go to the Caribbean. This is now how it looks like at this moment. What would happen with it later on, we do not know. Situation is changing every month, every half a year. So new parameters are defined, new countries are coming up, maybe as competitors, like Turkey and Egypt, maybe other countries, Solomon Islands also announced that they are thinking about opening a citizenship program by investment.
So all in all, this is all the constantly changing industry, and therefore, we try to keep track of everything, what is going on. And that is why, maybe that to talk to us might have to get additional information, additional important reasons why to choose this one, why not to choose that one, and so on.
Caribbean passport processing time compared to Vanuatu
LADISLAS MAURICE: And processing times between the Caribbean and Vanuatu?
LASZLO: Processing times in Vanuatu, because of the change in the $100,000 increase, as I mentioned, these Caribbean countries had enormous number of applicants. Now I would say that I do not expect the citizenship to be done in less than a year’s time, because then Saint Lucia is overloaded, Saint Kitts is overloaded, Grenada was overloaded. So all in all, maybe six months, maybe nine, maybe a year. But in Vanuatu, usually it’s two, three months to get the citizenship if nothing happens. So Vanuatu is definitely much faster if somebody needs it. The most important thing that somebody needs a citizenship most urgently, then Vanuatu is the best choice.
Caribbean vs Vanuatu citizenship by investment comparison
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. Essentially, if I get this right, if you are a Westerner and you want a citizenship very quickly, Vanuatu. If you want a citizenship and pay with crypto, Vanuatu?
LASZLO: Vanuatu, yes.
LADISLAS MAURICE: If you want a citizenship that’s more affordable, that you don’t really plan on using, you’re not really trying to open bank accounts with it, just want something just fast and just have it and not think about it too much and deal with minimal paperwork, Vanuatu. If you want something more reputable, that has a better reputation when you go around, travel around with it, if you were to renounce later on whatever citizenship you have, you would go for Caribbean.
LASZLO: Most probably, yes.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, clear. Thank you, Laszlo.
LASZLO: You’re welcome.
Get in touch with Laszlo
LADISLAS MAURICE: If you’re interested in obtaining a citizenship by investment in the Caribbean or in Vanuatu, Laszlo can help you from A to Z. He’s been in this game for over 30 years now, so you’ll be in good hands. There are links below. Laszlo, thank you very much.
LASZLO: Thank you for the recommendation. Cheers.
