Before 2021, persons who acquired Vanuatu citizenship through an investor citizenship scheme could also subsequently apply for a name change in Vanuatu. During the enhanced dialogue, Vanuatu informed the Commission that in 2021 the relevant legislation was amended in order to provide that persons holding dual citizenship could not register a name change in Vanuatu. However, Vanuatu also informed the Commission that it does not hold any records of name changes registered prior to 2019. Therefore, it could not provide any information on the number of persons who acquired citizenship in exchange for an investment and subsequently changed their name or on any follow-up checks on those persons.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
