According to Arton Capital’s “Passport Index 2022,” India is placed 66(as of 16th December 2022) in the world’s strongest passport list, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is ranked 1st in the passport ranking for 2022.
- A passport is a travel document that confirms a person’s identity and nationality for the purpose of international travel. Passports are issued by governments to their citizens.
Passport Index 2022
i.The Passport Index 2022 ranks the strongest and weakest passports in the world and indicates the number of countries that can be entered without a visa.
- The Passport Index is the first real-time interactive platform to display, sort, and rank the world’s passports.
ii.The Passport Index is the first interactive online passport ranking tool ever created, allowing users to further explore passport rankings by country, region, location, colour, and other factors.
- The Passport Index was founded in 2014 by Arton Capital.
Click here for Global Passport Power Rank 2022
Key Findings:
i.Travellers with a UAE passport (Rank 1) can enter 180 countries without hassles, which is 7 more than European countries such as Germany and Sweden, and 9 more than Japan.
- Travellers with a UAE passport are eligible for ‘visa-free’ entry into 121 countries, with 59 countries also offering ‘visa on arrival’. They only require visas for 89 countries.
ii.In 2nd rank were ten European countries: Germany, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, along with South Korea.
- They have the visa power to travel to 126 countries but require a visa on arrival for 47.
iii.The 3rd rank on the list is the United States (US) passport, which grants visa-free access to 116 nations.
- The United Kingdom (UK), Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Ireland, and New Zealand are also tied for 3rd place.
iv.However, Indians with a ranking of 66 can only travel visa-free to 24 countries, require a visa on arrival for 48 countries, and require a visa for 126 countries.
- India shares its ranking with countries such as Gambia, Ghana, Uzbekistan, and Tanzania.
v.Pakistan passport holders can travel visa-free to only 10 countries, while Syrian and Iraqi passport holders can visit only 8.
vi.Afghanistan ranks last on the list, with only 38 countries on its visa-free list.
Passport Index Methodology
i.A total of 199 passports are taken into consideration, including those from 193 United Nations members and 6 territories (the Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan, Macao (a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China), Hong Kong (SAR China), Kosovo, the Palestinian Territory, and the Vatican).
ii.The British Virgin Islands (Britain), French Polynesia (France), Norfolk Island (Australia), and other territories annexed to other countries but which do not issue their own passports are excluded and are not regarded as destinations.
iii.A 3-tier method is used to establish the individual ranking of each passport:
- Mobility Score (MS) – includes visa-free (VF), Visa On Arrival (VOA), Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) and E-Visa (if issued within 3 days)
- VF portion of their score vs VOA
- United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index 2018 (UNDP HDI) is used as a tie breaker. The UNDP HDI is a significant measure on the country’s perception abroad.
Key Terminologies:
Mobility Score (MS): Passports accumulate points for each country that their holders can visit without a visa, or they can obtain a visa on arrival.
Visa-Free (VF): Permission from a foreign authority to enter a country is not required.
Visa On Arrival (VOA): Permission from a foreign authority to enter a country is required but can be obtained on arrival.
Visa Required (VR): Permission from a foreign authority to enter a country is required prior to travel.
Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA): Requirement for foreign nationals travelling to a country where permission to enter is not required. It is a relatively new approach, widely used by the US and Canada.
Recent Related News:
According to the “Henley Passport Index 2022” released by Henley & Partners, an immigration consultancy based in London, United Kingdom(UK), India’s passport ranked number 87 and grants visa-free access to 60 countries, including Macau, Bhutan, Nepal, and Indonesia. Japan has topped the index followed by Singapore and South Korea in the 2nd rank (as of July 2022).
About the United Arab Emirates (UAE):
President – Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Capital – Abu Dhabi city
Currency – Arab Emirati Dirham (AED) [called Dirhams]
