Not all passports are created equal

[Al Bhatti]

May 3, 2014

Not all passports are created equal

Travel documents from UK, Finland and Sweden are the most hassle-free to have

If you’re British, Finish or Swedish, congratulations — your passport is ranked best in the world and means you can travel to more countries visa-free than of the holders of any of the other 215 passports globally.

But if you’re from Iraq or Afghanistan, your passport means you’re stuck with travel documents that are the least accepted globally.

The rankings are produced annually by Henley and Partners, a global consulting firm with offices around the world, and in conjunction with IATA, the International Air Transport Association. There are 218 different passports issued by political entities globally, and it’s theoretically possible that any nationality can travel to each of the 217 passport-issuing places. But visa restrictions mean having to apply in advance before you travel. The survey ranks how different passports stack up when it comes to ease of travel — without having to apply in advance — and getting visa on arrivals.

According to the survey, UK, Sweden and Finland passport-holders can travel to 173 countries easily.

Next comes the US, Denmark , Germany and Luxembourg, equally with 172 countries allowing easy access. Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands are joint third, while Ireland, Canada, France, Japan, Norway, Portugal and Spain are joint fourth.

Citizens of the UAE have a passport that is ranked joint 56th, along with Palau and Suriname. Saudi Arabia is ranked 64th.

India is ranked joint 74th, on par with Uzbekistan and the Dominican Republic, with 52 countries allowing for ease of access. Bangladesh is ranked 85th, equal to Burundi, Ethiopia and North korea. And Pakistan? It is ranked joint 91st, on par with Somalia, just ahead of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Full list is available here: http://gulfnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1327551!/infoDup[0]/uploadInfo/fileUpload/infoFile/Binder1.pdf

Not all passports are created equal | GulfNews.com

 

[MM_Haider]

shame on Pakistan... nothing to offer to the world except terror!! and in return you get the same..

 

[illusion8]

China ranks 82
Cameroon, China, Congo (Brazzaville), Jordan, Rwanda

Sri lanka ranks 88
Kosovo, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Sudan

 

[jarves]

Difficult to beleive that we have managed to beat regional countries like Srilanka.

 

[Raja.Pakistani]

Lol i understand why british passport is there at top but how come finland and swedish in top three?

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

Difficult to beleive that we have managed to beat regional countries like Srilanka.

At least we are more desirable than our neighbours Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

 

[Kloitra]

How did India rank above China?

 

[BATMAN]

May 3, 2014

Not all passports are created equal

Travel documents from UK, Finland and Sweden are the most hassle-free to have

If you’re British, Finish or Swedish, congratulations — your passport is ranked best in the world and means you can travel to more countries visa-free than of the holders of any of the other 215 passports globally.

But if you’re from Iraq or Afghanistan, your passport means you’re stuck with travel documents that are the least accepted globally.

The rankings are produced annually by Henley and Partners, a global consulting firm with offices around the world, and in conjunction with IATA, the International Air Transport Association. There are 218 different passports issued by political entities globally, and it’s theoretically possible that any nationality can travel to each of the 217 passport-issuing places. But visa restrictions mean having to apply in advance before you travel. The survey ranks how different passports stack up when it comes to ease of travel — without having to apply in advance — and getting visa on arrivals.

According to the survey, UK, Sweden and Finland passport-holders can travel to 173 countries easily.

Next comes the US, Denmark , Germany and Luxembourg, equally with 172 countries allowing easy access. Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands are joint third, while Ireland, Canada, France, Japan, Norway, Portugal and Spain are joint fourth.

Citizens of the UAE have a passport that is ranked joint 56th, along with Palau and Suriname. Saudi Arabia is ranked 64th.

India is ranked joint 74th, on par with Uzbekistan and the Dominican Republic, with 52 countries allowing for ease of access. Bangladesh is ranked 85th, equal to Burundi, Ethiopia and North korea. And Pakistan? It is ranked joint 91st, on par with Somalia, just ahead of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Full list is available here: http://gulfnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1327551!/infoDup[0]/uploadInfo/fileUpload/infoFile/Binder1.pdf

Not all passports are created equal | GulfNews.com

this is democratic Pakistan, gifted to us by Asif Ali Zardari... now kindly pull out similar data from 2004.

 

[Hyde]

This is old data from last year

UK is ranked number 1 since last few years now. I remember one of my friend was showing off back in 2008 when he was praising Canadian Passport and I in response defending UK Passport. Good old days... Now the rankings are clear, but more importantly and sadly I have very little interaction with him

Time changes fast

The advantage of being a dual national Pakistani is that you can even travel to Pakistan without the need of visa. So your ranking goes slightly higher than your country-men... lol

I remember when I checked the ranking couple of years ago, Denmark was ranked number 1 and UK somewhere at number 3 or 4. Not sure which countries UK made agreements with to seal the spot of number 1. It used to be UK 167 and Denmark 168 if my memory is correct

 

[Spring Onion]

At least we are more desirable than our neighbours Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

cheap laboure is always desirable

on a serious note good that you Indians get some solace at the cost of Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

cheap laboure is always desirable

on a serious note good that you Indians get some solace at the cost of Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Labour from all the above-mentioned countries is cheap.

Why so serious ? It was a light hearted comment.

 

[VCheng]

Yay! Pakistan is not in the last spot!

 

[Raja.Pakistani]

But thank God that atleast the rest of the world recognizes the threat from Pakistani's..most of them are Islamists. The situation in UK created by Pakistani's, would not be repeated in other countries.

When kids on PDF will grow up I am living in UK for more than 5 years and i don't see any situation created by Islamist here and what the hell is Islamist ?

I can say surely that i got more respect from British as compare to your fellow Indians no matter if we talk about University or at work place. Indians are very timid/submissive type people with exception of few British born sikhs. They(majority) never involve in debate and arguments and always rely on ji ji yes yes..i agree i agree and such behavior don't earn you a respect when you don't have courage to express yourself openly even if others don't like it...Indians are expressive on forums though. I bet very few Indians here will have courage to say what they feel in real life when having face to face conversation

 

[janon]

When kids on PDF will grow up I am living in UK for more than 5 years and i don't see any situation created by Islamist here and what the hell is Islamist ?

I can say surely that i got more respect from British as compare to your fellow Indians no matter if we talk about University or at work place. Indians are very timid/submissive type people with exception of few British born sikhs. They(majority) never involve in debate and arguments and always rely on ji ji yes yes..i agree i agree and such behavior don't earn you a respect when you don't have courage to express yourself openly even if others don't like it...Indians are expressive on forums though. I bet very few Indians here will have courage to say what they feel in real life when having face to face conversation

Please stop these generalizations, like "Indians are submissive people". Having lived longer in "the west" than you (from what you say in your post), I can assure you that they don't really differentiate between an Indian and a Pakistani. (OK, I haven't lived in the UK, but I suspect that they are the same.) And from personal experience, I also believe that there is not much difference in behaviour between Indians and Pakistanis in the west - the similarities completely outweigh any differences there may be. I'm not talking about religious beliefs or practices, I'm talking about their academic and professional behaviour. And also social behaviour, for the most part.

These statements like "Indians dont have the courage to..." are crappy generalizations that some Pakistanis come up with, to feel superior to Indians. Pakistanis DO NOT come from Mars, and Indians DO NOT come from Venus.

 

[Dubious]

Lol i understand why british passport is there at top but how come finland and swedish in top three?

lowest crime rate countries...