Overview

Residence visa allows applicants to stay in Vanuatu for 12 or more months. There are 6 different categories for which a Residence visa may be granted. The main applicant must satisfy the criteria of one of the categories outlined below to be elegible for a Residence visa.

Citizens of the following countries are exempt from the necessity of having visas in their passports when landing in Vanuatu.

Visa Exempt Countries

Residence Visa Categories

 Partner

•  You are married to or living in a genuine, de-facto relationship with a Vanuatu citizen, or
• You were married to or living in a genuine de-facto relationship with a Vanuatu citizen at the time of his or her death and either have children that are citizens of Vanuatu, or where in that marriage or de-facto relationship for at least 5 years.

 Child

•  You are the dependent child of a Vanuatu citizen

 Employee

•  You have accepted employment, from a business operating in Vanuatu for a period of at least 12 months.

 Self-funded Resident

•  You have an income certified by a bank operating in Vanuatu of at least 250,000 vatu per month, or 500,000 vatu per month if you are including your spouse or de-facto partner in your application, or
• If you were the holder of a residence permit on the basis of being a self-funded retiree prior to 7th February 2011 and have an income certified by a bank operating in Vanuatu of at least 150,000v vatu per month, or 300,000 vatu per month if you are including your spouse or de-facto partner in your application.

 Foreign Investor

• You have been issued with an approval certificate by the Vanuatu Investment and Promotion Authority (VIPA) as a 'Foreign Investor', and
• If the foreign investor certificate issued by VIPA indicates that you will be operating a business in Vanuatu, a business license issued by the relevant official body.

 Land Owner

• You have leasehold ownership of a property in Vanuatu with a value of 10 million vatu or more, and
• You have an income certified by a bank operating in Vanuatu of at least 250,000 vatu per person included in the application

How to apply?

Complete the online Residence visa form.

All evidence required by the application must be provided.

Spouses (married or de-facto) may also be included in your application.

Dependent children can be included in your application if you are not applying as a Self-Funded Resident.

The exact visa application charge must be paid before the form is submitted for processing.

Visa Conditions?

• the visa holder must comply with all laws of Vanuatu
• the visa holder must not behave in a manner that is prejudicial to peace, good order, good government or public morality in Vanuatu, and
• the visa holder must inform Vanuatu Immigration of any significant changes in his or her personal or financial circumstances
• And the following specific visa conditions:
• Partner Residence Visa: the main applicant must continue to be legally married to, or in a defacto relationship, with the same citizen of Vanuatu on which basis the visa was granted, unless the citizen of Vanuatu is deceased
• Child Residence Visa: the main applicant must continue to be a dependent child of a citizen of Vanuatu
• Employee Residence Visa: the main applicant must continue to be an employee of the business operating in Vanuatu on which basis the visa was granted an d the visa holder has been given permission to commence or continue working Vanuatu under the Labour (Work Permits Act) [CAP 187]
• Self Funded Residence Visa: the main applicant continues to receive the monthly required income
• Foreign Investor Residence Visa: the main applicant continues to hold valid foreign investor approval certificate issued by VIPA and a valid business licence issued by the relevant official body if conditional on issue of VIPA approval certificate
• Land Owner Residence Visa: the main applicant continues to receive the monthly required income and continues to have leasehold ownership of the property concerned

Checklist

Applicant Checklist - Residence Visa

Note

Please be aware that incomplete or partially complete applications will not be accepted. Information in a language other than English, French or Bislama needs to be translated by a certified translator into one of these languages.

If you have any questions regarding this application, visa requirements and/or visa conditions please contact us using the details provided on the contact page.