VANUATU (Commonwealth Union)_ The European Union has imposed a complete suspension of visa-free travel for Vanuatu nationals due to the Pacific island nation’s ‘golden passports’ policy, which grants investors nationality.
The suspension will take effect in February 2023, according to the European Council, which represents the EU’s 27 member states. The move extended a partial suspension for Europe that had been in place since March of this year after negotiations failed to resolve the issue.
“The country has refused to cooperate in any meaningful way,” the statement stated, “and the circumstances that led to the interim suspension remain.”
Brussels has been attempting to tighten down on so-called ‘golden passport’ programmes, both within EU member states and against non-EU nations whose people are permitted to enter the EU for short-term stays without requiring a visa. It sees the measures as a threat to EU internal security. There are essentially no passport controls between EU member countries after a traveller enters the union.
The European Commission decided in September to file a case against EU member Malta in the EU’s top court for pursuing its own citizenship-by-investment plan. The European Council emphasised Vanuatu’s “very low rejection rate” for applications to its scheme, which included people from countries that required EU visas. It also stated that candidates for Vanuatu’s ‘golden passports’ were not required to be residents of the country, and certain individuals were issued Vanuatuan passports despite being on Interpol watch lists.
Vanuatu’s plan advertised online that applicants may acquire their passports in one or two months for $130,000. Some of those websites mentioned the EU visa reform and added a “cheaper option” – a passport from the Caribbean country of Saint Kitts and Nevis for $110,000 – that still allows visa-free entrance into the union.
