In August 2026, the Nauru Program Office published a circular on the country’s renaming. The changes affect the citizenship programme process in terms of document preparation.
Lyle Julien, an investment programme expert at Immigrant Invest, explains how the change in the country’s name will affect former and future applicants.
What will change in the citizenship by investment programme
The Republic of Nauru is now called the Republic of Naoero. The official renaming took place on June 26th, 2026, when Nauru notified the United Nations[1]Source: UN website.
The citizenship by investment programme has received a new official name: the Naoero Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program.
The procedure for issuing citizenship documents currently looks as follows:
- Citizenship certificates are already being issued with the new name, Naoero.
- Passports still contain the former name, Nauru.
Passports with the new name, Republic of Naoero, will begin to be issued later, when the transition period ends.
Passports that have already been issued remain valid and do not need to be replaced.
Transition period. Within a month after the circular was published, the Nauru government will gradually replace the country’s name in the laws and materials of the citizenship programme.
The changes will affect:
- law and by-laws on the citizenship programme;
- questionnaires and application forms;
- instructions for applicants and licensed agents;
- official website of the programme;
- other documents related to obtaining citizenship.
Therefore, during the transition period, the names Nauru and Naoero may appear in documents at the same time.
Why Nauru was renamed
Naoero is the historical name of the island in the Nauruan language and has always been used on the national coat of arms. It appeared around 1000 BC, when Micronesian settlers arrived on the island.
Foreigners more often began to call the country Nauru, as a simpler pronunciation option.
Lyle Julien,
Investment programmes expert
The renaming of Nauru is linked to the aim of reflecting the country’s historical heritage, language, and national identity more accurately.
The international three-letter country code NRU will be replaced with NRO. Local residents are now officially called dei-Naoero instead of Nauruans.
Have the Nauru citizenship by investment conditions changed?
The country’s renaming does not change the investment requirements of the programme.
A Nauru passport can be obtained by investing at least $90,000. This threshold is valid until December 31st, 2026. After that, the minimum amount will be $115,000.
The passport obtainment period is 3+ months. Today, Nauru has one of the fastest and most affordable citizenship by investment programmes.
