Want to be the next Jason Bourne? A world class traveler? Or a Great Commission worker?
Which is the best passport to own? US? Switzerland? Canada? UK? See interesting results below.
The Henley Visa Restrictions Index is a global ranking of countries according to travel freedom their citizens enjoy. Henley & Partners has analyzed the visa regulations of all the countries and territories in the world. It has created an index which ranks countries according to the visa-free access its citizens enjoy to other countries. This is the first time that a global ranking shows the international travel freedom of the citizens of the various countries as well as the international relations and status of individual countries relative to others.
Note: There are 195 countries in the world. The following ranking does not take into consideration such factors as negative perception the world has of a given country's passport (e.g. US in the Middle East) or the vigor in which a country will back and aid their citizens in another country in case of emergency situations, arrests, etc. The study is solely based on visa free access.
The winner? Denmark, although the material difference between the top 10 countries (24 nations in total due to ties) is probably negligible (access to 157 countriees vs. 146). US (#3) & Canada (#4) are have just a one country difference and are only two and three countries less than #1 Denmark in terms of visa free access. Says Henley, "The Canadian passport is one of the best-regarded in the world and offers extensive visa-free travel."
| Rank | Score | Rank | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denmark | 157 | 14 | Malta | 139 |
| 2 | Finland | 156 | 24 | Israel | 118 |
| 2 | Ireland | 156 | 17 | Hungary | 131 |
| 2 | Portugal | 156 | 20 | Argentina | 127 |
| 3 | Belgium | 155 | 23 | Brazil | 122 |
| 3 | Germany | 155 | 26 | Romania | 115 |
| 3 | Sweden | 155 | 27 | Mexico | 114 |
| 3 | United States | 155 | 29 | Croatia | 108 |
| 4 | Canada | 154 | 35 | South Africa | 88 |
| 4 | Italy | 154 | 38 | St. Kitts & Nevis | 84 |
| 4 | Japan | 154 | 42 | Turkey | 75 |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 154 | 44 | Dominica | 71 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 154 | 53 | Russian Federation | 60 |
| 4 | Spain | 154 | 54 | Taiwan | 59 |
| 5 | Austria | 153 | 61 | Thailand | 52 |
| 5 | Norway | 153 | 61 | United Arab Emirates | 52 |
| 6 | France | 152 | 70 | Saudi Arabia | 42 |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 152 | 72 | Bosnia and Herzegowina | 40 |
| 7 | Australia | 151 | 75 | India | 37 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 150 | 78 | Egypt | 34 |
| 8 | Singapore | 150 | 79 | China | 33 |
| 9 | Greece | 149 | 82 | Jordan | 30 |
| 9 | Switzerland | 149 | 83 | Korea, Dem People's Republic | 29 |
| 10 | Iceland | 146 | 87 | Pakistan | 25 |
| 11 | Malaysia | 145 | 87 | Iran | 25 |
| 12 | Korea, Republic of | 144 | 88 | Iraq | 23 |
| 13 | Liechtenstein | 140 | 89 | Afghanistan | 22 |
| 14 | Cyprus | 139 |