Japan and Singapore have the world’s most powerful passports – where is Britain?

Johnson confirms new travel rules in England from January 7

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Japan and Singapore’s passports were ranked as most powerful in 2022. Citizens of both countries can travel to 192 countries without a visa.

The Henley & Partners Passport Index has ranked passports on their power for 17 years.

The research looks at how many countries citizens of 199 nations can travel to without needing a visa.

Germany has the most powerful passport in Europe and German residents can visit 190 countries visa free.

South Korean citizens can also visit 190 countries and South Korea’s passport drew with Germany’s as the second most powerful in the world.

Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain had the third most powerful passports in the world in 2022.

Citizens of all four nations can travel to 189 countries around the globe without the need of a visa.

The UK came in sixth place and British citizens can travel to 186 countries without needing a visa.

The UK passport has risen since the 2020 ranking which saw it fall to eighth place in the world, its lowest ever ranking.

The USA, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand and Belgium drew with the UK in sixth place in 2022.

Austria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland and Portugal all have a more powerful passport than the UK.

Henley & Partners said that this year’s index showed a huge mobility gap between the world’s strongest and weakest passports.

Citizens of Afghanistan are only allowed to enter 26 countries without needing a visa while citizens of Iraq can travel to just 28 countries visa-free.

Citizens of Syria, Pakistan and Yemen can travel to less than 35 countries without needing a visa.

The average passport allowed travel to 107 countries around the world, a huge rise from 2006 where the average was just 57.

However, Henley & Partners said: “This apparent progress is masking a growing divide in mobility and the resulting access to opportunities between citizens in the wealthy global north and those in the lower-income global south, which includes many fragile states.”

Ukraine, Romania, UAE and Colombia were among the countries that had seen the biggest increase in their passports’ power since 2006.

Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners, wrote that the “UK’s immigration system is now one of the most expensive in the world”.

He said: “The US and the UK passports have regained some of their strength after falling to eighth place in 2020 — the lowest spot either country has held in the index’s history.

“Both countries now occupy sixth place, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 186.

“While an improvement, this position is a far cry from the top spot the two countries shared in 2014, with their former passport power now totally outmatched by the dominance of Asian and EU states.”

Source: Read Full Article