The Henley Passport Index ranks all of the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The ranking is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains a worldwide database of travel information. The data covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations and is updated as visa policy changes occur.
The Henley Passport Index website provides comprehensive, printable lists of the countries you can access visa-free, with an electronic visa (e-Visa), with a visa on arrival, or with a normal visa. It also allows you to compare the strength of passports and understand how you might improve your travel freedom with alternative citizenship. More on that later.
The rankings hold some surprises. Five years ago, the United States and the United Kingdom were at the top of the list. Now they are not even in the top 10. As of the beginning of 2020, the best countries for visa-free travel are two prosperous Asian countries followed by several countries from the EU.
Japan and Singapore share first place with visa-free access to 190 destinations. Tied for third with 188 are Finland, Germany and South Korea. Denmark, Luxembourg, and Italy have access to 187. France, Spain and Sweden are tied with visa-free access to 186 jurisdictions.
Joint 12th place with access to 184 countries belongs to the United States and the United Kingdom along with Belgium, Canada, Greece, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland. The trend is expanding visa-free travel. Many countries recognize that is important for economic and social progress.
Afghanistan and Iraq are at the bottom. Holders of these passports have can access only 26 and 28 jurisdictions, respectively, visa free.
Here is the full list. Click to enlarge.
You can check visa requirements for your country and destination here.
Alternative Citizenship?
In addition to compiling the passport index, Henley & Partners advises clients on the benefits of and process for obtaining alternative citizenship or residency. Basically, if you have enough money many countries allow people to “buy” citizenship or residency. You can increase your visa-free travel by holding a passport from a country like Japan.
For example, the United States has a HB-5 visa. It grants the holder US residency and later citizenship if the following requirements are met.
- Investment of at least $1,000,000 ($500,000 if the investment is in a targeted employment area),
- In a new commercial enterprise in the U.S.,
- Which creates at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.
Other countries offer similar programs. The cost can be more or less expensive. I hate applying for visas, and visa on arrival can sometimes involve long wait times, but these programs are very expensive and time consuming ways of avoiding visa requirements, if that is the sole purpose. Consult an immigration attorney if you are thinking of doing this.
That is true now. 😊 Maybe 15 years ago I bought a plane ticket to Brazil and found out a couple weeks before the flight that a visa was required. The Delta rep on the Diamond line took pity and allowed me to apply the full ticket value to a new ticket to Buenos Ares for the same dates. Now Covid is the problem not a visa.
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I’m pretty sure Brazil is visa free as of a year ago to U.S. passport holders
. They tried playing turnaround is fair play by making Americans apply in their own country for a Brazilian visa. Cost $100.
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Very informative article. Thanks for sharing this article!!
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You are very welcome! There were a few surprises in the rankings.
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I have sympathy for travelers of the countries well down the list that are restricted by how much movement they can make in the world. Sadly the UK will be dropping further once Brexit kicks in as we’ll need visas to enter the European countries too 😦
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Wow! I didn’t know Brexit meant needing a visa to go to EU countries. Hopefully you can get an electronic travel authority online or at least a 10-year visa. Needing to get a visa has kept me from going to Brazil. I got a 10-year China visa a few years ago which has served me well.
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Yeah, I think they plan to do some sort of electronic visa so it should be pretty straight forward but still adds a minor inconvenience for Brits intending to visit. Nobody to blame but ourselves though haha.
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An ETA is easy and can be gotten online at an airport. Still, I’d hope something could be worked out to avoid even that. Many countries have visa free EU travel.
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Interesting and informative post. I am an American with EU residency and we have had very good entry experiences in all countries.
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Australia is a country that surprisingly requires a visa for Americans. We can apply online for visa that is called an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). last year I had to get an ETA even though just connecting in Australia and never leaving the airport. The layover was 8 hours and 10 minutes and the limit for a layover without a visa is 8 hours.
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Cool. I don’t travel much so I didn’t know this. I don’t know that I would ever need a Visa, but this is good to know!
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About 10 years ago, I had booked a trip to Brazil before I realized it required Americans to have a visa. I was able to rebook to Argentina without penalty. I’ve still never been to brazil. Thanks for your comment.
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I hope I remember Visas if I ever travel again . . . if any of us ever travel again. 🙂
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interesting! I’m guessing the six extra countries that I have visa-free access to if I had a Singapore passport are likely countries I might never visit, but this is just pure speculation on my part. Maybe I’ll compare the two passports later. I think I can get an Irish passport wince my mom was born there, but I’m not sure if there is any advantage to doing so.
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I took a quick look. Two countries Singapore passport holders have visa free access to that we don’t are China and Brazil. The visa requirement is the reason I haven’t been to Brazil.
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I don’t know much about visas. Are they hard to come by?
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Good question. Not to put too fine a point on it but visas are a pain in the ass. Many visas require sending or bringing your passport to an embassy or consulate, submitting a lot of information about yourself and sometimes family, and there is usually a fee that ranges from around $25 to more than $200. Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) are easier because they can be applied for online. Visa on arrival sounds good, but there can be long waits at the airport and nobody wants that after a long flight.
Australia is the most ridiculous visa requirement for Americans. Australia requires a visa for transit passengers who don’t enter the country. I had to buy a $40 Aussie visa because my layover in Sydney was 8 hours and 10 minutes and the max layover is 8 hours. At least Australia uses ETAs.
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I never knew any of this! So once again, thank you for such useful info. And that sounds ridiculous about Australia… I’ll have to make sure I check visa requirements next time I travel abroad…
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