Passport

Port Vila pauses passport pass out till July

The Daily Post reports the Minister of Internal Affairs Christophe Emelee as saying the decision was made to allow enough time for 6000 new passport holders to be engaged in either the RSE scheme or the Seasonal Workers Program (SPW).

High demand and a large number of new passports being issued are among reasons why the suspension has been put in place.

EU seeks to suspend visa-free travel with Vanuatu over 'golden passport' scheme

The proposal was announced on Wednesday local time. If it is backed by EU states, it will be the first time the EU has imposed sanctions on a country for running "golden passport" schemes.

The commission has repeatedly warned the scheme could pose security and money-laundering risks. 

"The commission has concluded that Vanuatu's investor-citizenship schemes present serious deficiencies and security failures," it said in a statement.