Source document
Comparative Regional Report on Citizenship Law: Oceania (RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp 2020/1)
We keep a copy for checking but can’t share it here (its terms don’t allow it, or it isn’t published yet). Use the original or archived link.
Has everything in it been taken?
CompleteReviewed 10 Oct 2026
Reviewed. Everything in it that belongs in the tables has been taken.
What the document holds
Comparative report on citizenship law in Oceania; section 4.2 and Table 4 on investor citizenship and passport sales (Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Nauru, PNG). In scope: Marshall Islands ~2,000 sales, Nauru 1,000 sales and 8% of GDP, Vanuatu 1,800 citizenships and 30% of revenue in 2018, and dated events. The rest (general nationality law) is out of scope. Solomon Islands passport-sale convictions cited only by case name ([2010] SBHC 25), not recorded as an event.
What it supports
18 rows on this site come from this document. Each one opens with the page and the exact words.
3 numbers4 programmes11 events
Numbers (3)
- People granted citizenship2,000 persons1987-1996 · EUI GLOBALCIT 2020Reported by othersMarshall Islands · Passport sales (1987–2001)
- CBI inflows as a share of GDP8% of GDP1998-2002 · EUI GLOBALCIT 2020Reported by othersNauru · Citizen Investor scheme
- People granted citizenship1,000 persons1998-2002 · EUI GLOBALCIT 2020Reported by othersNauru · Citizen Investor scheme
Programmes (4)
- Passport sales (1987–2001)Launched 1989 · Ended 18 Oct 2001ClosedMarshall Islands
- Citizen Investor schemeLaunched 13 Jun 1997 · Ended 2003ClosedNauru
- Citizenship for investors (minister's discretion)Launched 29 Aug 2016Not operatingPapua New Guinea
- Citizenship by investmentLaunched 31 Jan 2017ActiveSamoa
Timeline (11)
- Papua New Guinea reportedly allows naturalisation of investors2016LegalPapua New Guinea
- Samoa adopts Citizenship Investment Act 2015 (reported)2015LegalSamoa
- Nauru's earlier citizenship-for-investment scheme reportedly ends in 20032003ClosureNauru · Citizen Investor scheme
- Vanuatu Ombudsman exposes sale of diplomatic passports (reported)1998ScandalVanuatu · 1990s passport sales
- Nauru creates 'citizen investor' category (reported)1997ContextNauru · Citizen Investor scheme
- Marshall Islands citizenship sales end (reported)1996ClosureMarshall Islands · Passport sales (1987–2001)
- Tonga briefly reintroduces citizenship sales (reported)1996Rule changeTonga · Passport and citizenship sales
- Tonga discontinues citizenship sales after court challenge (reported)1988ClosureTonga · Passport and citizenship sales
- Marshall Islands citizenship sales begin (reported)1987ContextMarshall Islands · Passport sales (1987–2001)
- Tonga amends Nationality Act to allow naturalisation for a fee (reported)1984Rule changeTonga · Passport and citizenship sales
- Tonga creates 'Tongan Protected Person Passports' (reported)1982LaunchTonga · Passport and citizenship sales
4 more rows from this document are in the source data but not on this site: numbers we would have had to work out ourselves, figures a later correction replaced, or programmes outside these datasets.
About the document
What it covers History of passport and citizenship sales in Oceania: Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Nauru (1998-2003), Papua New Guinea (2016 amendments), Samoa, Vanuatu.
Notes Academic report, not stored. Nauru figures (about 1,000 sales, 8% of GDP) are secondary, citing Van Fossen. Direct download blocked (403); read from the Wayback copy.
Source id intl-eui-globalcit-oceania-2020 · accessed 10 Oct 2026