Attention: The List of 10 Most Powerful Passports in the World is Finally Revealed

Ever wondered which is the country that opens more doors for travelers across the world than any other? It’s none other than Japan. Japanese passport is deemed as the world’s strongest passport by Henley and Partners. The land of the rising sun offers a visa-free or visa-on-arrival facility to 191 destinations around the world. Every year, Henley and Partners come up with a passport index where countries are ranked based on the ease of entering without a prior visa.

The list states the most travel-friendly passports in the world that provides an insight into the visa accessibility offered by a particular country/destination. As per the Henley passport index 2020, Asian countries have started gaining a strong foothold replacing some European countries from top spots. Singapore has landed spot 2 in this list of best passports in the world for the year 2020. The Henley passport index clearly shows that passports from 16 countries give better access than the USA, whose rank is slipped to 8^th position from the last year when it was ranked 6^th in the list. The increases openness of visa benefits the entire global community and help immensely in promoting tourism. Here is the ranking of countries holding the top 10 positions in the list of strongest passports in the world.

Japan: The country with a low crime rate, economic and political stability, and technological resources has a visa waiver program for 68 countries. Indians still need a visa to travel to Japan. Being the strongest passport in the world, Japanese passport is trusted all over the world and provides ease of access to its holders where they can go through immigration procedures more smoothly than others.

Singapore: Indian passport holders cannot avail visa-on-arrival facility to explore Singapore. They are still required to get a proper visa to visit this exotic tourist destination. Singapore passport provides visa-free and visa-on-arrival access to 189 countries.

Germany and South Korea: Both Germany and South Korea do not offer visa-on-arrival access to Indian passport holders. Indians still need to get a visa before visiting these countries. German citizens can avail visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 189 countries.

Finland and Italy: The option of visa-on-arrival access is not enabled for Indian passport holders. To enter Finland and Italy, Indians need to apply for visa through standard procedures.

Denmark, Luxembourg and Spain: All European countries require a proper visa from Indian tourists before they visit European destinations. Denmark, Luxembourg and Spain don’t offer visa-on-arrival facility to Indian citizens.

France and Sweden: Indians need to apply for a visa before making plans to travel to France and/or Sweden. Like other European destinations, these two countries also don’t entertain visa-on-arrival access to Indian tourists.

Austria, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland: All these five countries need a visa from Indian tourists as they enter to the countries. Austrians can visit 114 countries without a visa. Citizens from 89 countries do not require an Irish visa to travel to Ireland. Dutch passport holders can visit 116 countries without a visa. Portuguese can travel to 131 countries without a visa and have access to 16 countries offering visa-on-arrival to those holding Portuguese passport.

Belgium, Greece, Norway, UK and USA: To visit these countries, Indians must apply for a visa through standard visa procedures. The given countries do not offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to Indians.

Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Malta and New Zealand: Australian passport holders can enter to 160 countries visa-free, Canadian citizens can explore 184 countries offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access, Maltese can travel 183 countries visa-free and citizens of New Zealand can enter and travel to more than 110 countries. Indian passport holders will need a proper visa to visit these countries.

Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia: Hungarian can visit 140 countries without a visa and have access to visa-on-arrival facility provided by 14 countries, Lithuanians can visit 145 countries visa-free and Slovakia citizens can visit 112 countries visa-free. Indian passport holders would require visa to get access to these countries.

Where Does India Stands?

While Japan continues to dominate the list of strongest passports in the world, India’s rank has declined from 82 (2019) to 84 (2020). The Indian passport ranked 84 in Henley’s passport index list of strongest passports in the world. From the list, it can be seen clearly that India’s passport is twice as powerful as that of Pakistan. So far, 58 countries provide visa-free entry to the Indian passport holders.

The Worst Passports in the World

Now that we’ve gone through the most powerful passports, it’s time to take a look at the worst ones. Here are the weakest/worst passports in the world according to the latest Henley passport index: