In August 2021, Tatiana R. from Moscow contacted us with the goal of obtaining a second citizenship.
She had a few specific requirements:
- The new passport should allow visa-free travel to the European Union.
- She wanted to complete the process as quickly as possible.
- She wished to change her name from Tatiana to Tina without notifying the civil registry at her place of residence.
Among all available economic citizenship programs, the Vanuatu program offers the simplest name-change procedure. Unlike some other jurisdictions, Vanuatu does not require documents verifying the change of personal information from the applicant’s country of primary citizenship (residence).
Moreover, the freedom of movement granted by a Vanuatu passport and the expedited processing time fully met the client's requirements.
The name change occurs after the applicant receives a Vanuatu citizenship certificate and passport.
With this in mind, we began gathering the required documents for Tatiana's application for the citizenship-by-investment program.
By September, the case was ready.
Before submitting the application for due diligence, the payment issue needed resolution. Tatiana was unable to make the investment from her Russian bank account, as Vanuatu had temporarily suspended USD payments. Her uncle in Milan assisted by making the payment as a third party, providing proof of income for the past three months.
The initial transfer of $5,000 covered the due diligence fee. Immediately afterward, the lawyer submitted all required documents for review, which was successful. We informed Tatiana of the positive outcome. Then her uncle paid the main investment contribution to the Vanuatu Development Fund ($180,000).
The review of the citizenship application took a little over a month.
In November, Tatiana took her citizenship oath online via Zoom.
Two weeks later, her passport was ready, and she collected it, along with her naturalization certificate, at our Moscow office.
The next step was to apply for the name change.
We prepared the specific forms required, which the applicant completed (to update civil registry records, change her name, and issue a new passport), along with notarized copies of her Vanuatu naturalization certificate, her Vanuatu passport, birth certificate, and passport from her primary citizenship.
We also included a police clearance certificate from her country of residence and a digital photo. The lawyer submitted the application and documents to the Vanuatu Civil Status Office. Three days later, the client received approval. She then returned her initial Vanuatu passport under the name Tatiana and received a new passport under the name Tina.
