A Vanuatu passport and Australia’s Pacific Engagement Visa

For naturalised citizens, the applicant’s or a parent’s place of birth can be decisive. Nationality alone does not settle eligibility.

Vanuatu · Policy & practice

25 October 2026

Check nationality and passport, the applicant’s or a parent’s birthplace, and ballot conditions and timing. Selection is followed by a visa application.

Sources: [1] · [2] · [3] · [4] · [5]Checked: 25 October 2026

Australia’s Pacific Engagement Visa offers permanent residence through the Pacific Engagement stream of subclass 192, with Vanuatu among the participating countries.[1] Holding its passport, however, does not establish all the conditions for entering the ballot or obtaining the visa.

Check birthplace as well as nationality

Home Affairs requires the applicant, or at least one parent, to have been born in a listed country. That list includes specified Pacific countries, Timor-Leste, Australia and New Zealand. It is not identical to the list of countries whose passports qualify for participation.[2]

For example, a person born in China to parents who were also both born in China does not satisfy this birthplace condition simply by later acquiring Vanuatu citizenship. Equally, naturalised citizens should not all be presumed ineligible: an applicant may meet the condition through their own birthplace or that of a parent. These are applications of the published test, subject to the person’s actual records.

Ballot eligibility has its own timing

Registration requires an applicant to be aged 18–45 inclusive when the registration period opens, hold a valid participating-country passport and meet the other conditions, including not being a New Zealand citizen. The ballot registration fee is A$25.[3] These registration requirements should be distinguished from the age wording used at the visa-application stage.

At the date of this review, Home Affairs lists the 2026 registration window as having opened on 1 July and closed on 29 July.[4] DFAT lists 150 places for Vanuatu in 2026–27.[1] An allocation does not mean registration remains open, and it cannot be read as an individual’s chance of selection. Future opportunities depend on the officially announced rounds.

Selection is followed by a visa application

Selected participants must apply within the period in their notification, described by Home Affairs as 120 days from selection. The visa assessment still includes an ongoing Australian job offer for the applicant or accompanying partner, together with English, health, character and other requirements.[2][4]

The official checklist covers passports, birth and family records, written employment evidence and ways to meet the English requirement.[5] Establishing personal eligibility first, then checking ballot availability and the practical demands of a subsequent application, gives families a sounder basis for planning. The cost of acquiring Vanuatu citizenship should never be presented as a payment that secures Australian permanent residence.

Official sources

General policy information; individual circumstances and the competent authority’s requirements govern each application.