Brussels calls for total suspension of Vanuatu’s visa waiver for its ‘golden passports’ policy

BRUSSELS, Oct. 12 () –

The European Commission has proposed this Wednesday the total suspension of the visa exemption regime for tourists from Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, which since January affected only the holders of a passport issued since May 2015, considering that the policy of ‘golden passports’ offered to large foreign investors pose security risks.

In this way, the end of flexibility in consular procedures for those who move from this island in the South Pacific to the European Union will not only affect those who have a passport issued in recent years, but also all ordinary, diplomatic, of service or special carried out in Vanuatu.

The proposal, which still needs the approval of the Twenty-seven to be effective, is due to the lack of results in the contacts between Brussels and the country’s authorities, warning of the EU’s doubts regarding two investment programs with which Vanuatu grants citizenship to foreigners who make investments of a minimum of $130,000.

In practice, the granting of a ‘golden passport’ also means that the foreign investor would become exempt from the obligation to apply for a visa to travel to any EU country, a requirement that would otherwise have to be fulfilled in order to reach community land.

Community experts consider that these programs have “serious deficiencies and security flaws” that allow, for example, individuals listed in Interpol databases to obtain citizenship in Vanuatu without any problem.