As we all know, a passport is an important document when traveling internationally. The official on the board will only allow you to enter the board after you show a valid passport. However, the importance of a passport is greater than that. It presents people’s freedom, the right to live, study and work in other countries. That’s why passports play a vital role in our lives. If your passport is more powerful, the more countries you can go to. Here you may have a question: Is my passport the most powerful in the world? Well, the “Passport Index” or “Passport Power Rank” can answer that question. Because it measures how powerful a country’s passport is. Read below to find the most powerful passport in 2023.
What is the Henley Passport Index?
The Henley Passport Index covers 199 passports and 227 destinations and autoritatively ranks the world’s most powerful passports according to the number of destinations passport holders can access without a visa. Updated in real time throughout the year, the index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is the most accurate travel information database. And the data will be processed by Henley & Partners’ research team.
Countries score points for each destination, meaning they can visit these places visa-free. When citizens wish to enter the destination, this applies to those who can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit or an electronic travel authority (ETA). If a visa is required or a passport holder must obtain an e-visa before travelling, there are no points for the destination.
The World’s Most Powerful Passports: The Top 10
According to the Henley Passport Index report of 20 July 2023, Singapore passport holders can travel to up to 192 countries around the world visa-free or visa-on-arrival. The top 10 most powerful passports in the Henley Global Passport Index are :
1 – Singapore (192)
2 – Germany, Italy, and Spain (190)
3 –Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden,Japan (189)
4 – Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom (188)
5 – Belgium, Cech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland (187)
6 – Australia, Hungary, Poland(186)
7 – Canada, Greece (185)
8 –Lithuania, United State (184)
9 – Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (169)
10 –Estonia, Iceland (168)
In the past, Japan topped the index as the world’s most powerful country. According to the latest ranking, now Japan has been knocked out of the top spot and bumped into 3rd place. Signapore is now officially the world’s most powerful passport, with citizens able to visit 192 travel destinations out of 227 worldwide visa-free. However, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan remain in the lowest position due to war and religion. With this report, you can explore the links between visa-free access and openness, examine welcoming developed economies, and compare the increased passport power with other countries’ passports.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES-UAE Passport Power Trend
According to real-time monitoring by UAE Passport Power, the UAE announced a goal in 2017 that it would position the top five most important passports in the world by 2021. Now, it has already become the most powerful in the GCC by 2023, but it certainly has more room to grow.
Unwelcoming Developed Economies
U.S. passport holders can access 184 visa-free destinations, but the U.S. itself allows only 44 other nationalities to cross its borders visa-free, placing it 78th on the Henley Openness Index ( 8th on the Henley Passport Index).
Mobility Score Changes in 2023
If you are curious about who is the biggest climber and who is the least powerful in 2023, you should have a look at the change in the mobility score to see which countries gained and lost visa waivers. Based on the data, ALBANIA obtained seven visa waivers, becoming the first country to obtain more visa waivers. GEORGIA, KENYA, and VATICAN obtained 5 visa waivers, ranking second. However, CUBA dropped 3 points, meaning it lost 3 visa waivers.
Take a Passport Photo at Home
As we all know, a passport contains important information about citizens, such as name, date of birth, ID number, and a biometric photograph that meets all required passport photo requirements. Therefore, when preparing the passport photo, you need to make sure that the photo you took is less than 6 months old and shows the real you.
As we know, when you take your passport photo at a professional photo shop, it will cost you a lot of money to receive several printable photos and a digital photo. Sometimes you may need to spend more time in the queue. However, the time to take a passport photo only in the photo shop has passed. Many governments encourage their citizens to apply online. Today, taking your passport photo at home and turning it into a passport-compliant photo is popular around the world.
AiPassportPhoto Online Passport Photo Tool
Many online passport photo tools, such as AiPassportPhotos, work like a passport photo booth at home, offering official documents photos such as passports, IDs, driving licenses, visas, etc. They can make your photo meet all the requirements with a guarantee of acceptance. This way, you can easily take a photo without visiting a photographer or a photo booth.
No matter which countries passport photo you need, just upload it to the online passport photo editors. AI technology in the photo process will automatically check the photo and crop it to meet passport photo requirements in different countries. Finally, you can receive the passport photo in your email. Some online passport photo manufacturers will even send you printable photos if needed.
Conclusion
In this article, you will learn how important and powerful your passport is. Especially now that we are in a post-pandemic world. More and more people want to travel, work or study. The more powerful your passport is (You will see a higher visa-free score in the ranking), the easier it is for you to travel around and freely choose where you want to live and work. Wherever you go, take care of your passport.
Erin Lo