Learn French: Qui que ce soit, vous dites que le statut VIP est nécessaire. - Whoever it may be, you say that the VIP status is necessary.

The phrase qui que (whoever) introduces a concessive clause, meaning no matter who. In French, expressions of concession like this always require the subjunctive to show that the exact identity of the person is uncertain or does not change the outcome. Therefore, we use soit, the subjunctive of être.

Why is there a ce in qui que ce soit? Could I just say qui que soit?

You must include ce. In this construction, the verb être needs a subject. Because we are talking about an unidentified person, French uses the impersonal pronoun ce (it). So the phrase literally translates to whoever it may be.

Why doesn't vous dites que trigger the subjunctive for est nécessaire?

The subjunctive is only triggered for the first clause by qui que. The main verb dites is affirmative, stating a fact about what you are saying. Verbs of declaring or thinking like dire only trigger the subjunctive in a subordinate clause if they are negative (vous ne dites pas que) or in an inverted question. Since it is affirmative here, est stays in the indicative.

I have also seen qui que ce soit used to mean anyone instead of whoever. How can I tell the difference?