The head of Vanuatu’s Citizenship Office says Andrew Tate remains a citizen of Vanuatu, for now.
On Monday, ABC Pacific first reported that Tate’s passport, which he purchased under the Citizenship-By-Investment (CBI) scheme in 2022, had been revoked.
The report was followed up by RNZ Pacific on Wednesday.
However, the Vanuatu Citizenship Office and Commission chairman Charlie Maniel said on Thursday that the office “has not made a decision to revoke the grant of citizenship” concerning Tate.
“There is currently insufficient evidence to support such action based on the Citizenship Office’s records and the recent due diligence information received,” Maniel said in a statement.
The statement said the most recent criminal allegations that Tate faces in the United Kingdom and Romania must not be conflated with the information that Vanuatu used when assessing his citizenship application three years ago.
“Subsequent allegations do not, by themselves, establish that the original citizenship decision was improperly or knowingly made.”
“The Vanuatu Citizenship Office rejects any generalised suggestion that Vanuatu’s citizenship system knowingly attracts or accepts criminal individuals.”
It would require a conviction of more than 10 years’ imprisonment to create the legal grounds for revoking citizenship, it noted.
According to the BBC, Tate and his brother Tristan are facing life imprisonment based on charges which include rape and sex trafficking. Both have denied any wrongdoing.
Vanuatu government advisor Glen Craig, who helped to design the current CBI scheme, said if the government were to decide to revoke Tate’s citizenship, it would be the right decision.
“In my view, the citizenship should never have been granted in the first place,” Craig told RNZ Pacific.
“But to be fair to the government of the day, no charges had been laid at the time. The weakness was in the system, not in any one decision.
“The screening process did not properly test an applicant’s character, conduct or public statements, and it was not as strong as it should have been.”
Craig said the system of background checks and character assessments Vanuatu instituted has improved significantly since Tate was granted citizenship.
“There is now a triple-check system in place, with independent screening at each stage,” he explained.
“It is excellent to see the revocation power exists, and even better to see it exercised … this response is a sign of Vanuatu’s maturity.”
Craig said to be a citizenship of another country, regardless of whether it was purchased or not, is a privilege.
A Vanuatu passport carries a minimum price tag of US$130,000 for a single applicant.
