Nauru Citizenship by Investment (Naoero ECRCP): 2026 Costs, Family Fees and Process

Nauru announced the program at the COP29 climate conference in Baku in November 2024 and opened it to applications in January 2025. Industry sources give 21 January 2025 as the formal launch date^[20][22]. Its legal basis is the Nauru Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Act 2024 (Act No. 15 of 2024) and the regulations made under section 30 of that Act. Those regulations were amended in January–February 2025 (SL No. 2 of 2025, Gazette No. 51, 10 February 2025) and again in 2026^[5][21]. The program is run by the Naoero Program Office, which reports to the President and Parliament. The Office licenses the agents who must submit every application, and its operating company has offices in Yaren and Auckland^[3][4].

The money goes to the Treasury Fund and is presented as financing for the Higher Ground Initiative, a plan to move homes and essential infrastructure to higher ground on the island's interior plateau, as well as for water, energy and food-security projects^[2]. Nauru has about 12,000 people, uses the Australian dollar and has no army, since Australia provides its defence^[3].

Status on 2 October 2026: open and taking applications. The program is small. Its first approval, a German family of four, was announced in August 2025, and individual approvals continued into 2026. The Program Office does not publish total approval numbers^[17]. The country's name change does not alter the program: the investment thresholds, due diligence and legal basis stay the same. The government's own notice confirms the new name and the country code NRO but says nothing about passports^[23]. One licensed agent reports that certificates of citizenship now carry the name Republic of Naoero, while passports are still issued under the name Nauru during the transition and remain valid^[13]. The August 2026 brochure already refers to a "Naoero passport", so ask your agent which name will appear on yours^[2].

Unlike the Caribbean programs, Nauru offers no real estate, bond or business route. The only way in is a direct, non-refundable contribution to the Treasury Fund, paid after the government has approved the application in principle^[2][5]. In the program's own words, the principal applicant's contribution "is USD 115,000", and "a limited-time offer of USD 90,000" applies to "applications received by 31 December 2026"^[2]. The website describes the offer as a US$25,000 discount that has applied "from 3 February 2026 for all current or new applications filed prior to 31 December 2026"^[1].

This offer, which agents call the Iruwa Initiative, was approved by Cabinet on 29 January 2026 to mark the program's first anniversary. It originally ran to 30 June 2026, which is the date printed in the February 2026 brochure^[6][11]. A circular dated 15 June 2026 extended it to 31 December 2026, and agents expect the US$115,000 price to apply from 1 January 2027 unless the offer is extended again^[15].

How the price has moved since launch

Launch pricing was based on family size: US$105,000 for a single applicant, US$110,000 with up to three dependants and US$115,000 with four or more. On top came application fees of US$25,000–30,000 and due-diligence fees of US$10,000 for the principal plus US$7,500 for each dependant aged 16 or over^[5]. That is how the widely quoted 2025 figure of about US$140,500 for a single applicant arose. The 2026 amendments moved to a per-person model, cut the application and due-diligence fees sharply, and set a flat US$115,000 standard contribution^[1][11]. Agent sites still advertise older figures (US$105,000 standard, or a US$95,000 offer). The official schedule shown below is the one that counts.

The government's share for a single applicant is US$102,700 on the offer and US$127,700 at the standard price^[1]. Professional fees are extra, and they are not small compared with the contribution. NTL International lists US$25,000 per approved application^[11]. Budget for this line and compare quotes from several of the more than 50 licensed agents^[4]. Document costs, such as medicals with HIV tests dated within three months, police certificates from every country where you lived six months or more in the past ten years, and certified translations, usually add a few hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on how many countries are involved^[5][12]. The application, due-diligence and bank fees are paid before the file is examined and are not refunded if the application is refused^[5].

The principal applicant must^[2][5]:

• be at least 18 years old;
• be of good character, with no criminal record, and supply police certificates for every applicant aged 16 or over from each country of citizenship and each country of residence of six months or more in the past ten years;
• pass the Program Office's due diligence and international background checks, which agents describe as a four-tier framework^[12];
• show the lawful source of the funds and the financial capacity to make the contribution;
• attend an interview, online or in person;
• not be considered a threat to national security, and take the Oath of Allegiance after approval.

Every application must go through a licensed agent. Direct applications are not accepted^[4][12]. Since 16 April 2026, files are submitted electronically through the Program Office's secure transfer system. Wet-ink signatures and certified copies are still required, but originals no longer need to be couriered to Nauru^[12].

Restricted and prohibited nationalities

The 2026 Amendment Regulations, certified on 29 January 2026, moved Russia and Belarus from prohibited to restricted^[11][14]. Agents report the restricted list as Afghanistan, Belarus, Russia, Sudan and Yemen. Nationals of these countries can apply only if they meet both of two tests. First, they must not have lived in the restricted country for at least five consecutive years, or they must hold valid residence in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland or an EU state. Second, they must show no current economic ties to that country^[11][14]. Nationals of North Korea, Iran and Myanmar cannot apply at all^[11]. The 2026 amending regulations themselves were not available online when we checked, so these lists come from licensed agents. Confirm your own eligibility with the agent before you pay any fee.

Family inclusion is one of Nauru's strongest points. Since the February 2026 reforms, the following can join one application^[2][11]:

• a spouse, or a partner in a recognised de facto relationship;
• children of any age, biological or adopted, with no age cap and no marital-status or financial-dependency test;
• parents and grandparents of the applicant or spouse, with no minimum age and no proof of dependency;
• siblings of the applicant or spouse, whatever their marital status, at US$15,000 each.

Children under 16 add no contribution and no due-diligence fee, but each still pays the US$2,000 application fee and the US$500 passport fee. Each dependant aged 16 or over adds only US$2,000 to the contribution, plus a US$2,000 application fee and a US$3,000 due-diligence fee. The bank charge steps up from US$1,200 to US$1,700 or US$2,200 depending on how many dependants are included^[1]. Agents also report that the affidavit of support for adult dependants and the medical practitioner's certification of ID documents were dropped in 2026^[11].

The Program Office describes a seven-stage process^[2]. The notes on each step come from licensed agents' guidance^[12][16].

On Henley Passport Index data checked on 2 October 2026, the Nauru passport reaches 84 destinations without a visa obtained in advance: 52 visa-free, 25 with a visa on arrival and 7 with an electronic travel authorisation^[10]. Some agents quote 86 to 89 because they use older editions or different counting methods. Useful destinations include Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, Malaysia, Thailand (visa on arrival), South Korea (K-ETA), most of the Caribbean and much of the Pacific and East Africa^[10][2].

The gaps matter more than the count:

• United Kingdom: a visit visa has been required since 15:00 GMT on 9 December 2025, as well as a direct airside transit visa. The Home Office said the decision was "driven by the country's decision to introduce a new Citizenship by Investment programme" that it considers "particularly vulnerable to misuse"^[7].
• Schengen area, Ireland, US, Canada, mainland China, Japan and Australia: a visa is needed for all of them.^[10].
• New Zealand: Immigration New Zealand lists "Nauru investor passports" among the travel documents it does not accept^[8]. That listing may date from an earlier Nauru passport scheme, but it should be treated as a real risk for ECRCP passport holders until INZ says otherwise.
• United States: Nauru is not on the State Department's 50-country B-1/B-2 visa-bond pilot list as expanded on 2 April 2026, although Vanuatu is^[19].

In practice, a Nauru passport is a backup travel document and a second nationality for Asia, the Gulf and the Pacific. It is not a route into Europe or the Anglosphere.

Nauru does not levy a general personal income tax on worldwide income. Its main personal tax is the Employment and Services Tax (EST), which applies only to employment income and service fees sourced in Nauru. Residents earning less than AUD 9,240 a month pay no EST. The standard employment rate is 20% (30% for regional processing centre staff), and most non-resident employees and service providers pay 20% on every dollar^[9]. Agents also report no capital gains, inheritance or wealth tax^[16].

Two cautions apply. First, citizenship alone does not make you tax-resident in Nauru, and your current country will normally keep taxing you while you live there. US citizens remain taxable on worldwide income whatever second passport they hold. Second, a CBI passport does not change how banks report your accounts under the OECD Common Reporting Standard. Banks look at where you actually live, and a Nauru passport with no real residence there will not move your reporting. Take advice in your home country before relying on any tax benefit.

Citizenship is granted straight away on approval and oath. There is no probation period, minimum stay or later visit requirement^[2]. Nauru has allowed multiple nationality for all citizens since 2005, so you do not have to give up your existing passport. Your current country's rules still apply, however: India, China, Singapore and several other states automatically end or restrict citizenship when a national voluntarily acquires another one. Investor citizens pass citizenship to their descendants under the general nationality rules. Since ordinary naturalisation in Nauru is almost closed (it requires, for example, seven years of marriage and residence), the investment program is effectively the only way in for foreigners^[21]. Applications based on false statements are rejected, so complete and accurate forms are essential^[5].

Nauru suits buyers who want a second nationality as a backup, at the lowest possible family price, and who travel mainly within Asia, the Gulf, Africa and the Pacific. It works especially well for larger families with adult children or parents: a couple with two adult children pays about US$125,700 in government costs on the offer. Comparable Caribbean family applications usually start above US$250,000.

Look elsewhere if your goal is visa-free travel to Europe or the UK, a passport that will not draw questions from bank compliance teams, or a long track record. For Schengen access at the lowest cost, the Dominica citizenship program and Grenada's CBI with its US E-2 treaty link are the usual next steps up, at roughly two to two and a half times the contribution. Nationals of restricted countries who do not meet the residence and economic-ties tests cannot use Nauru at all.

• São Tomé and Príncipe citizenship by donation costs US$90,000 for a single applicant and US$95,000 for a family of two to four. Its passport is weaker, but the family price is flat.
• Vanuatu's Development Support Program costs US$130,000 and above, with a slightly larger visa-free list (86) but a permanent EU visa requirement since 2025 and a place on the US visa-bond list.
• Sierra Leone citizenship by investment has a new low-cost solo tier reported by agents, but its nationals face a US entry ban.
• Cambodia's donation route costs more (about US$245,000) but gives an Asian passport with ASEAN travel.
• Other Pacific options are not yet available: Tonga's proposed program has no law, and Samoa's dormant scheme is very expensive.

For side-by-side numbers, see our ranking of the lowest-cost citizenship programs by true total cost, the overview of programs launched since 2025, the Caribbean CBI comparison and the full citizenship-by-investment directory. If a second passport is not essential, our guide to choosing between a passport and a residence permit explains the trade-offs.