German passport allows visa-free entry to 157 countries
The UAE has the most powerful passport in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, allowing visa-free travel to 122 countries, according to the Passport Index 2017, a global ranking of the world’s passports.
The index, released by Arton Capital, a global advisory for residence and citizenship solutions, puts Kuwait on the second place with a visa-free score of 81 followed by Qatar at 77, Bahrain at 72, Oman at 69 and Saudi Arabia at 66.
The Visa Restrictions Index 2016, released by Henley & Partners in February last year, said the UAE nationals have visa-free access to 122 countries.
Iraq and Syria are the lowest-scoring Middle East and North Africa countries, while Afghanistan, with a score of 23, is the world’s least-desirable passport.
Germany is the world’s most powerful passport with a visa-free score of 157 followed by Singapore and Sweden, each with a score of 156. United Kingdom and the United States follow with a score of 155.
South Asian passports continue to have lack of access, the report said, giving a visa-free score of 46 to India, 26 to Pakistan and 35 to Sri Lanka.
In 2016, Marshall Islands added 35 countries to its visa-free score followed by Palau and Micronesia adding 34 new countries.
Arton’s newly-launched World Openness Score (WOS), which tracks the progression of freedom of mobility across the globe, reached 17,925 in 2016 but increased to 17,948 in the first few days of 2017.
Citizenship by investment has become a $2 billion industry, with over 20,000 investors seeking a second residency or citizenship around the globe very year, the report said.
“The desire to improve opportunity and security transcends borders. As such, having a second citizenship has never been more relevant,” said John Hanafin, CEO of Arton Capital.
New Top 10 Passport Power Ranking:
1. 157 - Germany
2. 156 - Singapore, Sweden
3. 155 - Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, UK, USA
4. 154 - Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal, Japan
5. 153 – Malaysia, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand
6. 152 – Greece, South Korea, Australia
7. 151 – Czech Republic, Iceland
8. 150 – Hungary
9. 149 – Malta, Poland
10. 148 – Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia
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