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Man holds up a passport. Photo: motograf / Flickr
Have you ever wished you had another country’s passport? For some nationals, they have the right to get working holiday visas all over the world. They can pick up and move to a country, and have the right to live there. Your passport has a big effect on how well received you’ll be in another country, in the eyes of their immigration officials.
The Economist had a chart called The Wanderers. A law firm named Henley & Partners compiled a list of twenty countries, ranking them according to easily their nationals could enter foreign nations without needing a visa. Makes you realize how much of that is beyond an individual’s control. If your government happens to be oppressive or unfriendly to immigrants, it’s the humble citizens who get punished with paperwork and exorbitant visa fees when they go abroad.
The first time I experienced this was when I taught English in China. My boss, who was from Iceland, observed that Europeans paid much lower China visa fees than Americans. That was when I learned about “reciprocity,” which basically translates as tit-for-tat. If America charges high visa fees on foreigners, than those countries will return the favor when Americans visit. Have any of you dealt with this?
The most extraordinary story I heard was from a Hong Kong girl. She has passports for Hong Kong, China, the United Kingdom, and Canada! That’s ultimate mobility, right there.
What are your experiences of dealing with passports and visas? Please share your stories in the comments.
August 19th, 2011 at 8:45 am
I hold a British passport. I used to travel often and extensively in Latin America and always felt great freedom carrying my passport. I was made to feel most welcome on my travels perhaps with the slight exception of Guatemala – something to do with Belize & politics! In general though, it was an asset. I currently live in Morocco and with the exception of Turkey & Egypt, I haven’t over the last 10 years travelled outside the US or Europe. I do however sense that, in the wake of the UK foreign policy shift, that pride of carrying a British passport has been diminished, and that’s a pity. From that point of view, the addition of a passport from a more neutral country would be nice but I wouldn’t swap.
August 19th, 2011 at 9:22 am
That girl from Hong Kong. She of the many passports. What do they mean? When she gets into trouble, which state will come to her aid? Will Whitehall send a gunboat? Not that most states are of much help to their nationals these days. And citizenship itself does not seem to mean much. Some people want to be citizens of the world, but I do not. For one thing, I am not clear what rights world citizenship carries, or how, exactly, they are to be enforced.
If some petty border official wants to give me grief over my country’s policies, I can live with that. After all, he has to live there and I don’t.
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:15 am
[...] Applying for a travel visa can be a long and complicated process. Which passport allows you to bypass the most forms? According to an index recently compiled by law firm Henley & Partners, Scandinavians and Finns have the greatest travel flexibility. Holders can travel to 173 countries or territories out of a possible 223 without a visa. [The Economist via Vagablogging] [...]
September 11th, 2011 at 11:47 am
Here is the full Henley Visa Restrictions Index 2011:
HENLEY VISA RESTRICTIONS INDEX 2011
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(Rank. Passport[s] of Country/Countries, Number of Countries Accessible Without Visa / Visa on Arrival)
001. Denmark, Finland, Sweden, 173.
002. Germany, 172.
003. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, United Kingdom (British citizen passport), 171.
004. Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain, 170.
005. Ireland, United States, 169.
006. Austria, 168.
007. Switzerland, 167.
008. Australia, Greece, New Zealand, 166.
009. Canada, Iceland, Singapore, 164.
010. South Korea, 163.
011. Malta, 160.
012. Liechtenstein, Malaysia, 158.
013. Hungary, Slovak Republic, 157.
014. Slovenia, 156.
015. Czech Republic, 155.
016. Poland, 154.
017. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, 153.
018. Cyprus, Malta, 150.
019. Hong Kong, 149.
020. San Marino, 148.
021. Brunei, Romania, 144.
022. Andorra, Bulgaria, 143.
023. Israel, 142.
024. Argentina, Chile, 141.
025. Brazil, 140.
026. Barbados, 137.
027. Bahamas, 136.
028. St. Kitts and Nevis, 131.
029. Mexico, 129.
030. Antigua and Barbuda, 128.
031. Uruguay, 127.
032. Vatican City, 125.
033. Seychelles, Venezuela, 124.
034. Croatia, Mauritius, 122.
035. Paraguay, 121.
036. Costa Rica, 120.
037. Panama, 114.
038. El Salvador, 113.
039. Guatemala, Honduras, 112.
040. Taiwan, 111.
041. Macao, 109.
042. Nicaragua, 108.
043. Serbia, 100.
044. Macedonia, 99.
045. Montenegro, 97.
046. Trinidad and Tobago, 95.
047. South Africa, 92.
048. St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Turkey, 91.
049. Russian Federation, 89.
050. Bosnia Herzegovina, 87.
051. Grenada, 86.
052. Albania, 84.
053. Belize, 83.
054. Dominica, 82.
055. Solomon Islands, 79.
056. Samoa, 78.
057. Fiji, Maldives, Tuvalu, 76.
058. Jamaica, Peru, Vanuatu, 75.
059. Guyana, Kiribati, 74.
060. Nauru, Tonga, 73.
061. Kuwait, 71.
062. Papua New Guinea, 70.
063. Ecuador, Gambia, Marshall Islands, Ukraine, 69.
064. Botswana, 68.
065. Bolivia, United Arab Emirates, 67.
066. Micronesia, Qatar, Suriname, 66.
067. Bahrain, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Palau Islands, 65.
068. Sierra Leone, 64.
069. Swaziland, Thailand, Tunisia, Zambia, 63.
070. Ghana, Tanzania, 62.
071. Oman, 60.
072. Uganda, 59.
073. Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, 58.
074. Belarus, 57.
075. Azerbeijan, Zimbabwe, 56.
076. Cape Verde, Kyrgyzstan, 55.
077. Colombia, 54.
078. Benin, India, 53.
079. Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal, 52.
080. Armenia, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Mali, Togo, 51.
081. Morocco, Tajikistan, 50.
082. Uzbekistan, 49.
083. Dominican Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, 48.
084. Algeria, Nigeria, Turkmenistan, 46.
085. São Tomé & Principe, 45.
086. Bhutan, Central African Republic, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, 44.
087. Mongolia, 43.
088. Gabon, Haiti, Laos, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, 42.
089. Chad, Egypt, 41.
090. Cambodia, China, Jordan, 40.
091. Bangladesh, Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda, Yemen, 39.
092. Cameroon, Comore Islands, Libya, Sri Lanka, 38.
093. Equatorial Guinea, Kosovo, North Korea, Syria, 37.
094. Iran, 36.
095. Burundi, Djibouti, 35.
096. Angola, Congo-Kinshasa, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nepal, 34.
097. Lebanon, Palestinian Territory, 33.
098. Eritrea, Sudan, 32.
099. Pakistan, 31.
100. Iraq, Somalia, 28.
101. Afghanistan, 24.
October 25th, 2011 at 9:54 am
I have a great story to tell, however the girl from hong kong does impress me.
I am a us and Mexican citizen, my wife is German and our kid was born in brazil. He has 4 passports and none of which overlap he has the right to live anywhere from Alaska to Argentina (except for Canada and central America). He can travel from Portugal to Vladivostok without a single visa.
It does get messy once you look at Asia since china requests visas from everyone but he never pays high fees.
November 6th, 2011 at 3:31 am
Best Turkish-US passport combination, thanks to recent efforts of government Turkish citizens can travel Brazil,Uruguay,Russia,Kazakhstan,Syria,Iran,Libya,Tajiksitan,Kyrgistan very soon Belarus without a visa where US citizens need a visa. So a Turkish-US passport can travel more than 180 countries. l guess way better for example than a Hispanic(Spanish),Portuguese-US or let’s say Italian-US or Greek-US) passport holders.
January 11th, 2012 at 6:23 pm
theres heaps of stories from HK like that, i am one of them
- born in HK, so that entitles me to an HKID card, used to be a BDTC or BNO passport, but now its an HKSAR passport (dont currently have one but am eligible for one)
- before 97 i gained British Citizenship through my father who worked for the Government, so the whole family we have british passport
- then we moved to new zealand and got naturalised after 3 years (still living here now)
- because i was born in HK, and the PRC have always regarded HK as part of PRC, so that i am a chinese citizen. i get a little card that gives me free access to china (but not a chinese passport as such, but it is still proof of citizenship. PRC passport is next to useless ayways against what else i got)
currently i only have a valid NZ passport and thats pretty much all i need anyways, british one expired ages ago and i would only need it if i was going to work in the EU
January 24th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Japanese passport is the best passport in the world. (Obviously)
Henley index is wrong as it is biased towards the west (as usual).
If u look at wikipedia, japanese passport holder can travel to 184 countries visa free or visa on arrival. This is more than danish passport holder which is at 173 countries.
Japanese passport can go travel to the whole of EU, USA/Canada/ AUS/NZ/ CHINA/ most part of ASIA (including India) visa free.
what else can we ask for? Henley index is wrong. (I bet it’s run by the american) as usual.
March 4th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
I have 4 passports too I was born in the uk to a south african( of welsh decent) father and a irish mother , they emigrated to the US when i was 7 months old and naturalized , I hold a valid passport for the US, uk, eire and south africa so I can pretty much travel anywhere visa free, because of the afghan thing I tend to travel on my Irish passport because of its neutrality, my son is technically allowed 5 as my ex wife is australian but in reality he only has 3 US, uk and australian
March 5th, 2012 at 9:23 am
Does someone can help(tell) me (how) to obtain the full version of full Henley Visa Restrictions Index 2011? I need it in pdf. Thanks very much.
March 18th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Hi
Which countries do the finns and Scandivians have free access compare to USA and UK ?
April 3rd, 2012 at 5:42 pm
30 years back, when there was war in Sri Lanka, as every young man looking for a better future I was trying to escape the situation and I remember well how it was difficult to get a Visa to just to get out of the country, At that very moment every where else was greeny except Sri Lanka,. And I envied the people who had right to travel and move anywhere in the world just because they happen to be born there….