The investment migration experts at Astons are explaining in detail how individuals can travel around the world freely in the times of closed borders and pandemic. The short answer is: with a second passport.
An Astons client decided to share his story as he believes that arranging Vanuatu citizenship was one of the wisest ventures in his life. This step helped him regain confidence under the difficult circumstances and preserve his family well-being.
Family situation
Meet Georgiy, 47 years old, a Russian national, owner of a construction business. He’s considered getting a second passport for quite a while, yet he always postponed the decision. Due to his work, he spent most of the year in business trips across Russia. Georgiy comments that his wife Alina, 45 years old, a Russian national, enjoyed travelling abroad so she would travel without him from time to time. This spring Alina was on a leisure trip to London where she would visit her friends residing in the UK.
When countries started closing their borders and cancelling flights due to the pandemic, Georgiy got really scared. “It was probably the first time in my life when I got confused and didn’t know how to act,” says Georgiy. “Even the scientists knew little about the coronavirus and its consequences. The information was scarce, and the countries began closing the borders for non-citizens. I was shocked and couldn’t believe this was really happening. It all looked like a thriller movie. I had got used to the idea that I could go anywhere anytime, the only burden being the need to obtain a tourist visa”.
Georgiy didn’t manage to come to his wife in London as he didn’t have a valid visa. At that, Alina wasn’t willing to get back to her home country. Her UK visa was expiring and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to return to Britain. “My spouse even blamed me for not having arranged a second citizenship earlier. If we did have a second passport, we wouldn’t have found ourselves in this difficult situation and could have easily left and entered the country. Then I promised her and myself that I’d never put off important decisions again,” says Georgiy.
He also worried for their daughter Regina, 22 years old, a Russian national, who was studying gestalt therapy in Minsk, Belarus. “After graduation, Regina was planning to continue her psychology studies in one of the UK universities. She was very upset when her plans got jeopardised,” explains Georgiy. At that point, he realised he couldn’t waste any more time. To reunite with his family and avoid being stuck in any country, he needed to obtain a second citizenship as soon as possible.
Choice of citizenship
When Georgiy contacted Astons he’s already had an idea of investment migration. Some of his friends and colleagues arranged themselves and their families the passports of the Caribbean countries. At first, the Astons experts suggested Georgiy should look into the Citizenship by Investment programme in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The passport of this island state allows for visa-free entry to 152 countries, including the EU and the UK.
The investment programme of Saint Kitts and Nevis offers two options:ht donate $150,000 or purchase property of $200,000 onwards. You can obtain the passport in just two or three months, which is relatively fast compared to other immigration programmes. However, Grigoriy was preoccupied that during these months his wife would have to leave the UK as her visa was expiring.
In response, the Astons experts recommended Georgiy to apply for the citizenship of Vanuatu where the application is processed within one month. Georgiy was surprised: neither he nor his family have ever heard of this state in the Pacific. However, when he learnt about the perks of Vanuatu’s Citizenship by Investment programme, he made his choice in its favor.
The benefits of Vanuatu passport
The passport of Vanuatu, an island state in Melanesia, allows for free travel to 129 countries including the EU, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. Georgiy obtained this passport in under a month! In 25 days, the Astons client became a Vanuatu citizen and got an opportunity to move around the world with no restrictions.
Vanuatu’s Citizenship by Investment programme enables foreign investors to obtain passports for themselves and their financially dependent family members: spouses, children under 25 years old, parents and grandparents. The minimum investment depends on the number of people in the application.
If a candidate applies for the Vanuatu citizenship alone, he or she will need to make a donation of $130,000. In case the applicants are a married couple, their joined donation would be $150,000. A family with one child would pay $165 000. Couples with two children would need to transfer $180,000. In our client’s case, he needed to obtain a passport for himself, his wife and daughter, so the donation to the state fund amounted to $165,000.
The passport of Vanuatu unlocks the opportunity to travel across the EU and the UK, but also stay in these regions. Vanuatu passport holders may stay in any Schengen zone country for 90 days every half a year – six months per year in the UK.
Fast and remote processing of the Vanuatu citizenship
After Georgiy decided to benefit from Vanuatu’s Citizenship by Investment programme, the Astons experts who render comprehensive support in obtaining a second citizenship, got down to preparing and checking the required documents.
The number of documents required by the Vanuatu programme is very reasonable (fewer than in the Caribbean programmes). It can be collected very fast – in just a few days. Due to thorough checks of all accompanying documents, the Astons clients always get the guaranteed result.
Here’s the list of documents needed for the Vanuatu passport application:
- Passport copy
- Copy of the birth certificate
- Copy of the marriage certificate
- Certificate of clean criminal record
- Bank reference certifying that the applicant has no less than $250,000 on the account
- Medical certificate
The Astons experts deliver the comprehensive service to ensure fast and successful processing of the Vanuatu citizenship, including medical references and notarization of all required documents. Within a few days, the Astons lawyers prepared all the documents for Georgiy and his family, translated them into English, notarized them and submitted the application to Vanuatu’s authorities. The entire passport application process was performed remotely.
In 25 days, the client and his family got their second passports allowing them to move to London at their earliest convenience. “The citizenship of Vanuatu was a godsend to my family,” comments Georgiy. “Whatever happens, now I don’t have to worry that I won’t be able to cross the borders at will.”