World Passport Ranking: Top 10 Most Powerful Passport

Kanchi Jain October 10, 2020October 10, 2020 0 Comments

Did you know that Indian Passport holders can travel visa-free or visa on arrival to 58 countries around the globe? If not, then you’ll be amazed to know that there are many more countries in the world whose passport holders can travel visa-free or visa on arrival to more than 100 countries in the world. Most of these passports are of countries which are members of the European Union. Below, we’ve curated a list of “Top 10 Most Powerful Passport in the World” (As per the Henley Passport Index)

Top 10 Most Powerful Passport in the World:

10. Hungary

Destination: 182

Tenth on this list are the Hungarian passports issued to Hungarian citizens and it is to be noted that every citizen of Hungary is also a citizen of the European Union.

The passport, other than the national identity card, allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union, European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

9. Canada, Australia

Destinations: 183

A Canadian passport which is issued by the Passport Program of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) serves as the proof of the passport holder’s identity and nationality status outside Canada. Moreover, Canada is a member of the Five Nations Passport Group which is an international forum for cooperation between the passport issuing authorities of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

An Australian Passport issued to Australian citizens under the Australian Passports Act 2005 by the Australian Passport Office both in Australia and overseas enables the passport bearer to travel internationally. Since 24 October 2005 Australia has issued only biometric passports, called ePassports, and as all the previous passports have now expired, all Australian passports are now biometric.

8. Greece, New Zealand, Malta, Czech Republic

Destinations: 184

Greek passports are issued to Greek citizens for the purpose of international travel and every Greek citizen is a citizen of the European Union as well.

New Zealand passports issued exclusively to the citizens of New Zealand also stand eighth on this list along with the other countries mentioned.

Every citizen of the Republic of Malta holding a Maltese passport is also a citizen of the European Union and a Commonwealth citizen.

The travel document issued to the nationals of the Czech Republic is known as a Czech passport. The nationals of Czech Republic are also citizens of the EU.

7. Switzerland, United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium

Destinations: 185

Swiss passport holders also have freedom of movement to live and work across all 27 European Union member states, as well as Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein.

The United States Passports are issued exclusively by the U.S. Department of State to its citizens. It is to be noted that in 2017, the U.S. government announced that American citizens would no longer be permitted to visit North Korea as tourists.

All categories of British passports are issued by Her Majesty’s Government under royal prerogative and owing to the many different categories in British nationality law, there are different types of passports for each class of British nationality.

Norwegian Passports are valid for ten years and they share the standardized layout of most European Union (EU) countries. Also, its citizens usually have the same rights as EU citizens and are treated as EU citizens for the purposes of travel and entry into EEA countries and Switzerland.

Belgian passports are issued by The Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs. Every Belgian citizen is a citizen of the EU too.

6. Sweden, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland

Destinations: 186

Besides serving as proof of Swedish citizenship, Swedish Passport facilitates the process of securing assistance from Swedish consular officials abroad or other European Union member states.

French passports issued to citizens of France are valid for 10 years for applicants aged 18 or over and 5 years for applicants under the age of 18.

Portuguese passports are issued to citizens of Portugal and along with the Citizen Card it allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union, European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Dutch passports are issued to citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the passport complies with the rules for European Union passports.

An Irish passport is issued to citizens of Ireland and enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as evidence of Irish nationality and citizenship of the European Union.

Also Read: Top 10 Cheapest Countries to Live In Worldwide 2020

5. Denmark, Austria

Destinations: 187

Danish passport is issued to the nationals of Denmark and every Danish citizen, except for those who reside in the Faroe Islands, is also a citizen of the European Union.

An Austrian passport is issued to citizens of Austria and all the Austrian citizens are also a citizen of the European Union.

4. Italy, Finland, Spain, Luxembourg

Destinations: 18

Italian passports are issued to citizens of Italy for the purpose of international travel. In addition, every Italian citizen is also a citizen of the European Union.

Finnish passports are issued to the citizens of Finland and they share the standardized layout and burgundy-red cover with other EU countries.

Spanish passports are issued to the nationals of Spain for the purpose of travel outside Spain and each Spanish citizen is also a citizen of the European Union.

A Luxembourgish passport is an international travel document issued to nationals of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and its nationals are also citizens of the EU.

3. South Korea, Germany

Destinations: 189

The Republic of Korea passport is issued to a citizen of South Korea. Apart from including the holder’s basic personal information, the South Korean passports also indicate the holder’s resident registration number.

Other than the German ID card and the German Emergency Travel Document, the German passport is the only other officially recognized document that German authorities accept as proof of identity from German citizens.

2. Singapore

Destinations: 190

Singapore passport stands at the second number in the list of most powerful passport. All Singaporean passports are issued exclusively by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to the citizens of Singapore and are generally valid for five years.

1. Japan

Destinations: 191

Japanese passport is ranked as the most powerful passport in the world by Henley Passport Index. Moreover, Japanese passports are one of the few passports of the world to allow either visa-free entry or electronic travel authorization to the world’s four largest economies, namely China, India, the European Union, and the United States.