Vanuatu and St Lucia currently have legal official citizenship by investment programs. Vanuatu CIP ($200,000) is expensive compared to CBI programmes in St Lucia, Dominica ($100,000). In reality, the cost of Vanuatu passport is at par with Grenada($200,00) and Antigua ($200,000). Grenada one of the best passports in the Caribbean.
While many see, Vanuatu passport is one of the best valued passport, one big advantage the Vanuatu passport has is visa free travel to Russia. Caribbean passports have no visa free to Russia. One exception is Grenada is the only CBI passport having visa free travel to China.
St Lucia is currently the most popular CBI program in the world because it is cheap and best.
Here are the comparison between the two CBI programs of Vanuatu and Saint Lucia
| St Lucia | Vanuatu | |
| Investment | $100,000 (donation) | $200,000 (donation) |
| Citizenship Act |
|
|
| Geographic location | Caribbean | South Pacific |
| Real estate investment | $300,000 | Citizenship not possible without residence |
| Government bonds | $500,000 | not available |
| Business enterprise investment | $1 million in a joint venture | not available. |
| Passport rank* | 36 | 45 |
| Personal visit | not required | required to take oath |
| Residence requirements | none | none |
| Passport validity | 5 years | 5 years |
| Visa free travel* | 137 countries (UK, Schengen area etc) | 113 countries (UK, Schengen Area, Russia etc) |
| Processing time | 2-3 months | 2-3 months |
| Additional fees |
|
included |
| Taxes | No income tax, capital gains tax, death tax or estate tax | No income, wealth or inheritance taxes |
*Henley visa restrictions index 2017
