The elderly gentleman can't point at Vanuatu on the map.
He had never been there; probably, he never would. Until the other day, he had not heard about the country.
Vanuatu sounded like a mystery land in a ‘guess the country’ game.
Nonetheless, he and his wife are citizens of Vanuatu --- an island nation in the South Pacific that few Indians knew two years ago.
Today, many do. Vanuatu has emerged as the quickest and cheapest avenue to switch citizenship, grab a new passport.
Competing with Cyprus and Malta --- which are more expensive and time-consuming options --- Vanuatu is among the very few countries where one can become a citizen without ever visiting it.
Indians planning to surrender passports for predictable reasons, typically spend a year in Dubai to become non-resident Indians (NRIs) before hiring a lawyer in UAE to process the Vanuatuan citizenship application.
Things move fast once the money is paid.
The ‘investment’, which is about a third of what a St.Kitts or Grenada passport could cost, works out to a crore for a person, or 1.5 crore for a couple with minor kids.
The old couple received their passports, couriered to their Dubai address, in less than 7 weeks.
Vanuatu is the latest feature in the overarching story of residents taking citizenship of other countries.
According to some estimates, at least 30 Indians (including NRIs) have become citizens of Vanuatu in the past 18 months.
“It’s currently the quickest `Citizenship by Investment’ Programme. It has become popular among many UAE residents, including Indians and Russians.
The Vanuatu passport offers visa free access to over 55 countries and visa on arrival in 34 countries. Its visa waiver program.
Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/looking-to-switch-citizenship-try-vanuatu-its-fast-cheap/articleshow/111736310.cms
