Recent data reveals which countries have the most hassle-free travel and the most powerful passports for 2016.
The letters embossed across the front a passport bearing the name of the country it belongs to, determines how freely the holder can travel across the world. By freely, it means whether a visa is required to enter a foreign land.
This free movement is valued so highly that when the results of UK referendum to decide whether Britain should leave the European Union were announced, the Irish embassy and post office was flooded with passport applications from Britons who feared that Brexit would hinder their future ability to freely move across Europe. In fact 4,000 enquiries were recorded in one day alone, when normally only 200 would be received. It is estimated that are approximately six million people living in the UK who are eligible for an Irish passport.
On the inside cover of the British passport the request is written to, ‘Allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance’. For some countries this ‘pass freely’ is more the case than others according to recent findings by Henley & Partners, a company specialising in citizenship and planning. Ranking passports in order of those who do not require a visa to travel, the 2016 rankings were led by Germany knocking off the UK who held the top spot in 2015. Travelling to 177 out of 218 countries without the need of a visa, German passport holders have the most amount of free movement with the most powerful passports.
Following closely behind is Sweden with 176 countries, and then the UK, Finland, France, Italy and Spain with 175 countries each. According to Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index Thai nationals can travel to 67 countries without a visa and Afghan passport holders bottom the chart needing a visa to travel all but 25 countries. There has been some movement in the rankings. Most notably Timor-Leste rose the ranks the highest by 33 positions, followed by Colombia by 25 positions and Palau 20.
Henley & Partners have said, “Generally, there was a significant movement across the board with only 21 of the 199 countries listed remaining in the same rank. No country, however, dropped more than three positions, indicating that overall, visa-free access is improving across the world”.
Henley & Partners visa restrictions index top 10
- Germany – 177
- Sweden – 176
- Finland, France, Italy, Spain & UK – 175
- Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands & US – 174
- Austria, Japan & Singapore – 173
- Canada, Republic of Ireland, South Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal & Switzerland 172
- Greece & New Zealand – 171
- Australia – 169
- Malta – 168
- Hungary, Czech Republic & Iceland – 167