Passport Stamp Fees Order revoked: Kalsakau

A recent order stating that a person who gained Vanuatu citizenship under the Citizenship Act and an indigenous citizen or a person with dual citizenship pays a fee to obtain a new stamp on his/her passport has been revoked.

This was confirmed by the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister of Internal Affairs, Ishmael Kalsakau, who signed the order published in the official gazette. The order became effective on May 6, last month.

Under the Passport Stamp Fee Order No.54 of 2021, the fee for an individual is Vt50,000, Vt80,000 for family application up to four people (couples including residents dependents) and Vt100,000 for family application of more than four people (couples including resident dependents).

Leader of Opposition, Ralph Regenvanu, said he questioned the DPM in parliament on the constitutional and legal basis of the order and he (the DPM) responded that his office has already revoked the order.

“Basically, the order is unconstitutional. The order has not been revoked as the minister responsible said,” he added.

In his response, Kalsakau said the order was revoked shortly after it was gazetted, which means the passport stamp fees are no longer applicable.

“We have already revoked the order. The order is not unconstitutional, we revoked because we want to do it in a better way,” he said.

“Not all Vanuatu citizens will be covered by this order.

“But, we are working on arrangements that will help put Vanuatu’s passports integrity at good standing with other partner countries, especially those from the European Union.”

He said during the signing of the order that it (the order) will defend the integrity of passports acquired through Vanuatu Citizenship investment programs which brings in much needed revenue for the country.

Daily Post receives copies of the Official Gazettes, but so far there has been no copy on the revocation of the Passport Stamp Fees Order yet.