EU reinstates visa requirement for Vanuatu: too many ‘easy’ citizenships with which to enter Europe

Brussels – Irregular immigrant flows from a remote corner of the world thanks to ‘generous’ policies to grant citizenship, with documents facilitating entry into the Schengen area for Russians, Chinese, and Iranians. The European Union sees Vanuatu as a third country that is beginning to present “serious and security shortcomings and loopholes” for EU interests, according to the European Commission, which decided to suspend the bilateral agreement abolishing visa requirements for citizens of the Oceania archipelago to enter on EU soil.

The decision of the Community Executive may seem curious. Looking at the world map, one can see that Vanuatu is quite distant from Europe. Located east of Australia, south of the Solomon Islands, on the eastern side of the Coral Sea, Vanuatu is indeed a remote destination. But that does not prevent the country from posing a threat in terms of legal immigration and security.

However, Brussels notes a policy of granting Vanuatu citizenship to citizens of other non-EU countries. The acquisition of citizenship implies the ability to enter and stay freely in the EU thanks to the visa-free agreement. Since 2015, the Commission reports, Vanuatian authorities have initiated “investor citizenship schemes allowing visa-required third-country nationals to easily obtain the Vanuatu citizenship and passport, thus enabling them to gain visa-free access to the EU, bypassing the Schengen visa procedure.”

It is a practice that seems to have been studied on purpose since these special programs do not include specific minimum requirements for residence on at least one of the 65 inhabited islands of the Melanesian archipelago. In addition, the application process is managed by specialized agencies outside Vanuatu, with the Commission explicitly citing Dubai (UAE), Thailand, and Malaysia.

In this game of ‘easy documents’ there is also concern about the security fallout. Particularly concerning is “the lax legislation on name changes, as successful citizenship-by-investment applicants can also apply for an identity change.”

Availing of Vanuatu passports are mainly Chinese, Russian, Iranian, Nigerian, Syrian, and Iraqi applicants. The EU fears that the remote Oceania state could operate as a ‘Trojan horse’ for potential spies and Islamic extremists. “We use the visa suspension mechanism to respond effectively to security threats,” said Ylva Johannson, Commissioner for Home Affairs. Vanuatu already figures on the EU blacklist of uncooperative countries in the fight against tax evasion. Now, there is also the ‘easy passports’ chapter.