Entry · Bauerfield International
Vanuatu Visa Requirements: Visa on Arrival and How Long Tourists Stay
For most visitors the Vanuatu visa question resolves at the airport. Citizens of a long list of countries are admitted on arrival for a tourist stay without applying in advance, and the requirements that matter are the ones on the passport rather than on a form.
Vanuatu visa requirements by nationality
Vanuatu operates a visa-exempt list covering most of Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and a large part of the Commonwealth. Nationals of listed countries do not need to apply before travelling. Nationals of unlisted countries apply through the Department of Immigration and Passport Services in advance.
Lists change. The requirements set out here describe the shape of the system, not a current legal position, and the department's own published list is the only source that settles an individual case.
Visa on arrival, in practice
Where an entry permit is issued on arrival it is stamped at Bauerfield International in Port Vila, or at Santo-Pekoa for the services that land there. The visa on arrival process takes a few minutes and is not a formality that can be prepared for in advance; the officer wants the same three things every time.
A passport with at least six months' validity beyond the intended departure. Evidence of onward or return travel. An address for the first night. A visa on arrival is refused for missing documents far more often than for anything else.
Tourist stays and what they permit
A tourist entry permits holidaying, visiting and diving. It does not permit work, paid or unpaid, and it does not cover research, filming or journalism, all of which need permission arranged beforehand. A tourist stay is also not the route for volunteering with a local organisation, which has its own category.
How long you can stay, and how long an extension runs
The standard tourist stay is 30 days. How long it can be extended for depends on the case, and extensions are applied for in Port Vila while the permit still has time to run. Overstaying carries a fine and complicates re-entry, so how long the current permit still has to run is worth checking before booking an onward island leg.
For anything beyond a holiday — residency, investment, retirement — the categories are separate and the department publishes them. A Vanuatu visa in any of those classes is applied for before travelling and is not converted from a tourist entry.
What the department actually is
Immigration, passports and citizenship sit with the Department of Immigration and Passport Services in Port Vila. It publishes the visa-exempt list, handles extensions and processes the categories beyond tourism. Its office is the only place an extension can be lodged, which is worth knowing before committing to a month on an outer island with a permit that expires mid-stay.
Arriving from a cruise
Passengers coming ashore from a ship at Port Vila, Luganville or Mystery Island are processed collectively by the vessel rather than individually, and do not need to arrange anything. The position changes entirely if you leave the ship and stay.
Children and dual nationals
Children need their own passports and are counted separately. Dual nationals should enter and leave on the same document throughout, which sounds obvious and is the most common cause of avoidable difficulty at departure.
Vanuatu’s citizenship programme
Vanuatu operates a citizenship-by-investment programme that has been a significant source of government revenue and a source of considerable external scrutiny, including the loss of visa-free access to the European Union for its passport holders. It has nothing to do with visiting the country and is mentioned here only because searches for a Vanuatu visa frequently land on it by accident.
If something goes wrong
An overstay is resolved at the department in Port Vila, and resolving it before the flight is considerably cheaper than being found at the counter. Lost passports go through the relevant high commission or embassy, most of which are accredited from Port Moresby, Suva or Canberra and are not resident in Port Vila.
What to have ready
Passport valid six months beyond departure. A printed or retrievable onward ticket. The address of the first night’s accommodation. Those three things settle almost every arrival, and their absence is what causes almost every problem.
Common questions
Do Australians and New Zealanders need a visa for Vanuatu?
No. Both are on the visa-exempt list and are admitted on arrival for a tourist stay, subject to the passport validity and onward-ticket requirements that apply to everyone.
How long is a tourist stay in Vanuatu?
Thirty days as standard. Extensions are possible and are applied for in Port Vila while the existing permit is still valid.
Is an onward ticket actually checked?
Yes, routinely — often by the airline at check-in before departure, not by immigration on arrival. It is the requirement travellers are most often caught by.
Can a tourist visa be used to work remotely?
A tourist entry does not carry a right to work. Whether remote work for a foreign employer falls inside that is a question for the department, not for a guide.
Entry is one of three things to settle before flying. The others are getting there and biosecurity, which governs what may be carried in.