Vanuatu Permanent Residence: A Residency Japanese Nationals Can Hold Without Changing Nationality, and the September 2024 Fee Increase

*While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information in this article, please note that we cannot accept any liability for errors.

*In November 2025 there were reports that "a minimum of JPY 40 million in funds is now required", but we have not been able to confirm this officially. Please contact us for the latest costs and requirements.
If you want to change nationality and obtain a Vanuatu passport, see Vanuatu citizenship: costs and processing time.

*Fees are based on 2024 information; other figures are as of October 2026. This article is an English version of our Japanese guide, adapted for foreign residents of Japan and international investors.

What is Vanuatu permanent residence?

The Republic of Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific, is a country rich in nature and one of the destinations attracting people from around the world who want to relocate.

Japanese nationals can obtain Vanuatu permanent residence while keeping their Japanese nationality, and without travelling to Vanuatu.
*The permanent residence application is handled by a government-registered agent in Vanuatu.

When entering a foreign country, you are often required to show a return air ticket, but with Vanuatu permanent residence you can enter without buying a return ticket.

The costs and timeline for changing nationality and obtaining citizenship (a passport) are explained in Vanuatu citizenship: costs and processing time, and local safety, cost of living, taxes and residence visas in Moving to Vanuatu: safety, cost of living, taxes and visas.

Application fees for Vanuatu permanent residence

As of August 2024, Vanuatu permanent residence could be obtained at a very affordable price: VT 700,000 for a single applicant and VT 1,000,000 even for a family application.

However, from September 17, 2024, the fee was raised roughly threefold to VT 3,090,000. The current application fees and requirements are not published on the Vanuatu government's official website, so please contact us for the latest amounts.

*Our office has already completed support for about 10 clients who obtained Vanuatu permanent residence from Japan.

*In November 2025 there were reports that "it can no longer be obtained without a minimum of JPY 40 million in funds", but we have not been able to confirm this officially (as of October 2026).

The advantages of the Republic of Vanuatu

There is plenty of information online about Vanuatu's appeal, so we will not go into detail here, but its advantages include being "one of the relatively safe countries in the South Pacific" and "easy access to healthy organic food".

The official languages include English and French, and official documents are often written in both English and French.

The time difference with Japan is only 2 hours, so keeping in touch with Japan should rarely feel inconvenient.
Being able to communicate easily in English is also a real help.

Why choose Vanuatu permanent residence?

There are many other countries in the world where you can obtain permanent residence (or a long-stay visa), such as Dubai in the UAE (Golden Visa through property purchase), Malaysia (MM2H Silver to Platinum) and Thailand (formerly Thailand Elite, now Thailand Privilege).

However, these countries may require investments in the tens of millions of yen, and some visas are currently closed to new applications.
*You will see this quickly if you look into it yourself.

In addition, the citizenship programs of the Caribbean countries, which used to be popular as low-cost citizenship (acquisition of nationality), raised their minimum price uniformly to US$200,000 from the end of June 2024.

Dominica's citizenship once attracted attention as one of the cheapest in the world, available from around US$100,000, but it too was raised to a minimum of US$200,000 from summer 2024.

Vanuatu also has a program that grants citizenship in exchange for a donation to the government. The donation is US$130,000 for a single applicant, and the total cost through our office starts from about JPY 22.08 million (as of October 2026).

As this exceeds JPY 20 million, it is not an amount most people can spend casually.

Before the price increase (until September 16, 2024), Vanuatu permanent residence was available from VT 700,000 for a single applicant, making it a very affordable permanent residence by global standards. Please contact us for the current cost.

Paraguay also offers low-cost permanent residence

Paraguay in South America is also well known as the country with the lowest hurdles for applying for permanent residence.

Our office also supports people moving abroad with document translation and authentication, and we have assisted several people who actually moved from Japan to Paraguay with translating and authenticating their documents.

In Paraguay, a new Migration Law (Law No. 6984) took effect in October 2022, under which you first obtain temporary residence (2 years) and then apply for permanent residence.
*It appears that the whole process, from obtaining the 2-year residence visa to applying for permanent residence, can be done for about JPY 150,000–200,000.
(This amount does not, of course, include living costs during the 2 years in the country.)

However, there are also points to note about Paraguay.
If you can accept the following points, Paraguay may be worth considering.

Some areas of Paraguay have poor security

*Our apologies to readers with close ties to Paraguay.

In Paraguay, around June 2024, two Japanese nationals were attacked by strangers in their home.

Robberies and thefts also occur in the capital Asunción and the surrounding cities, and although it depends on the area, it may not be accurate to call it "safe".


*Of course, Paraguay surely has many attractions we are not aware of, and, to put it in extreme terms, every country in the world has "areas with poor security". Check your own government's travel advice before moving.

Paraguay's official language is Spanish, and the time difference with Japan is 13 hours

Because the official language is Spanish and the time difference is 13 hours, you may find communicating locally and keeping in touch with Japan difficult at times.

There is a Japanese community in Paraguay, so if you are not confident with Spanish or local procedures (as is probably the case for most people), it is also effective to get help from people who moved there from Japan before you. Many of them seem willing to help as more experienced settlers.

Application support for Vanuatu permanent residence

Our office supports clients in obtaining permanent residence abroad.
The government-registered agent in Vanuatu is a former Japanese national, so communication in Japanese is no problem.

We also translate family register certificates (koseki) into English in-house, so your Vanuatu permanent residence application can be completed smoothly from the moment you sign up.

We will confirm the latest costs and requirements with the local agent at the time of your enquiry and let you know.

If you are interested in obtaining permanent residence abroad or Vanuatu permanent residence, please contact us below. We can assist in English and Japanese.

[Contact]
Royal Partners Administrative Scrivener Office
2-19-4-506 Azabu-Juban, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0045, Japan
Taiga Sato, Certified Administrative Scrivener
Free consultation form
info@royal-ptns.com (email accepted 24 hours a day)
Phone: +81-3-6303-1664 (weekdays 9:00–20:00 Japan time), +81-70-2225-0001
(If you cannot get through by phone, please contact us by email.)

*We never use pushy sales tactics.
As Certified Administrative Scriveners, we are bound by a legal duty of confidentiality.
We will never use your personal information for any other purpose without your consent.

Feel free to consult us on LINE below.