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Tightening of student visa rules by Australia has sparked concerns among Indian nationals, particularly affecting students and those seeking visa renewals. Photo: Shutterstock
Singapore has once again reclaimed its title as the world’s most powerful passport. Owning a Singapore passport now gives you visa-free access to a record 195 global destinations, putting the city state at the top on the Henley Passport Index.
The four European countries- France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain-dropped to joint-second spot, each with visa-free access to 192 destinations, and an unprecedented seven-nation cohort, each with access to 191 destinations without a prior visa — Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden — now sit in third place on the ranking, which is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The UK hangs onto 4th place along with Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, despite its visa-free destination score falling to 190. The US, on the other hand, continues its now decade-long slide down the index, dropping down to 8th spot, with access to just 186 destinations visa-free.
The latest ranking released by the Henley Passport Index puts India’s passport at the 82nd spot, allowing Indians visa-free entry to only 58 countries. India’s current rank ties it with nations like Senegal and Tajikistan.
Former passport powerhouses, the UK and the US jointly held 1st place on the index 10 years ago in 2014.
Afghanistan remains firmly entrenched as the world’s weakest passport, losing access to yet another destination over the past six months, leaving its citizens with access to only 26 countries visa-free — the lowest score ever recorded in history of the 19-year-old index.
Biggest climbers and fallers
The UAE makes it into the Top 10 for the first time, having added an impressive 152 destinations since the index’s inception in 2006 to achieve its current visa-free score of 185, and rising a remarkable 53 places in the ranking from 62nd to 9th position in the process. Henley & Partners CEO, Dr. Juerg Steffen, says the country’s meteoric ascent “is the result of deliberate and concerted efforts by the Emirati government to position the UAE as a global hub for business, tourism, and investment. Our research has consistently shown a strong correlation between a country’s visa-free score and its economic prosperity. Nations with higher visa-free scores tend to enjoy greater GDP per capita, increased foreign direct investment, and more robust international trade relationships”.
Interestingly, both China and Ukraine are among the Top 10 countries that have climbed the highest in the ranking over the past decade. Since 2014, China has jumped up 24 places from 83rd to 59th (with access to 85 destinations visa-free), while Ukraine has advanced by 23 spots, from 53rd to 30th, with its nationals able to visit 148 destinations without a prior visa. Russia, on the other hand, has fallen seven places over the past ten years, from 38th to 45th position (with visa-free access to just 116 destinations).
The biggest faller over the last decade is Venezuela, which has plunged 17 places from 25th to 42nd on the Henley Passport Index. The country is due to hold decisive presidential elections on 28 July that could change the fate of more than seven million Venezuelans who have fled their country over the past decade amid an economic and political crisis brought about by a crash in the oil price combined with chronic government corruption and mismanagement.
Yemen has tumbled 15 places to sit at 100th on the ranking, while both Nigeria and Syria have fallen 13 places to 92nd and 102nd, respectively. Bangladesh comes in as the 5th-biggest faller, dropping 11 places from 86th to 97th position over the past 10 years.
The links between visa-free access and openness
The Henley Openness Index, which ranks all 199 countries worldwide according to the number of nationalities they permit entry to without a prior visa, is an important element of Henley & Partners’ research into understanding the relationship between a country’s openness to foreigners — how many nations it allows to cross its borders visa-free — and its own citizens’ travel freedom (gauged using the Henley Passport Index).
According to the latest index published today, the Top 20 ‘most open’ countries are all small island nations or African states, with the exception of Cambodia. There are 13 completely open countries in the world that offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to all 198 passports in the world (not counting their own), namely: Burundi, Cape Verde Islands, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Maldives, Micronesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Samoa, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu. At the bottom of the Henley Openness Index, three countries score zero, permitting no visa-free access for any passport: namely, Afghanistan, North Korea, and Turkmenistan.
The Top 5 countries with the biggest (negative) difference between their own visa-free access and their openness to other nations are Somalia, Sri Lanka, Djibouti, Burundi, and Nepal, and the Top 5 with the least discrepancy between their access and their openness are Singapore, Bahamas, Malaysia, Hong Kong (SAR China), and Barbados.
First Published: Jul 24 2024 | 1:10 PM IST
