Henley & Partners, a global citizenship and residence advisory company, has placed the Indian passport at the 80th position in its latest ranking. Indian passport holders now have visa-free access to 57 countries. The report shows that the strength of the Indian passport has improved, moving up from the 87th position in 2022 to the 80th position in 2023.
The list of countries giving on-arrival visa to Indians:
MIDDLE EAST
Iran
Jordan
Oman
Qatar
CARIBBEAN
Barbados
British Virgin Islands
Dominica
Grenada
Haiti
Jamaica
Montserrat
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
ASIA
Bhutan
Cambodia
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Laos
Macao (SAR China)
Maldives
Myanmar
Nepal
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Timor-Leste
AMERICAS
Bolivia
El Salvador
AFRICA
Burundi
Cape Verde Islands
Comoro Islands
Djibouti
Gabon
Guinea-Bissau
Madagascar
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mozambique
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Zimbabwe
OCEANIA
Cook Islands
Fiji
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Niue
Palau Islands
Samoa
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
The Henley Passport Index rankings are based on the number of destinations that passport holders can access without needing a prior visa. This data is largely sourced from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Alongside India, Senegal and Togo also share the 80th spot in the ranking.
Interestingly, Singapore has dethroned Japan and secured the top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the first time in five years. Singaporean citizens can now visit an impressive 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world without a visa.
Following Singapore, Germany, Italy, and Spain have moved up to the second spot with visa-free access to 190 destinations. Japanese passport holders share the third position with those of six other nations, including Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden, with access to 189 destinations without needing a prior visa. The United Kingdom has shown improvement, jumping two places to the 4th position, a rank it last held in 2017.
Conversely, the United States continues its decade-long decline on the index, dropping two places to the 8th spot with visa-free access to 184 destinations. Both the UK and the US jointly held the 1st position on the index about ten years ago in 2014 but have seen a continuous decrease since then.
Over the past decade, the average number of destinations accessible to travellers visa-free has nearly doubled, from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023. However, there is now a wider global mobility gap between the top and bottom-ranked countries, with Singapore having access to 165 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the index with only 27 visa-free destinations.
A strong passport goes beyond being a mere travel document; it also provides significant financial freedoms by opening up international investment and business opportunities. In today’s world, global connectivity and access are essential for wealth creation and preservation, and their importance will only increase with growing geopolitical volatility and regional instability.
Interestingly, the “Top 20” most open countries, in terms of visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry, are predominantly small island nations or African states, with the exception of Cambodia.
Among these countries, there are 12 that stand out for being completely open to all 198 passports in the world (excluding their own citizens). These countries are Burundi, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Maldives, Micronesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Samoa, Seychelles, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu. They offer unrestricted access to visitors from all nations, making them highly welcoming to travellers.
According to the Henley Openness Index, four countries score zero, meaning they do not permit visa-free access for any passport holders. These countries are Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Turkmenistan.
Following these, there are five countries that provide visa-free access to fewer than five other nationalities. These countries are Libya, Bhutan, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and India, as reported with ANI inputs.
This article has been written by VOLF.TV TEAM , production and content strategy by Manjeet Kumar.
