World's 10 most powerful passports: how does India fare?

With travel restrictions galore due to the coronavirus pandemic you may feel like passports are presently not a priority. However, the world runs on hope, and there is certainly hope that the pandemic will pass and the world will rebound into normalcy again. And then when you decide to travel overseas, you'll come to see the significance of your passport!

The Henley Passport Index is the original and most authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

The index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations, giving users the most extensive and reliable information about their global access and mobility.

With historical data spanning 16 years and regularly updated expert analysis on the latest shifts in passport power, the index is an invaluable resource for global citizens and the standard reference tool for government policy in this field.

Robust, reliable, and accurate, the ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information, and is enhanced by the Henley & Partners Research Department.

The index’s scoring system was developed to give users a nuanced, practical, and reliable overview of their passport’s power. Each passport is scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free. For each travel destination, if no visa is required, then a score of 1 is allocated for that passport. This also applies if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon entry. Where a visa is required, or where a passport holder must apply for a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score of 0 is assigned. The same applies if they need pre-departure approval for a visa on arrival.

Explore the world as well as discover the strength of your own passport. Here's a list of the World's 10 most powerful passports and also see India's rank:

1 . Japan - Score: 193

2 . Singapore - Score: 192

3 . Germany, South Korea - Score: 191

4. Finland , Italy, Luxembourg, Spain - Score: 190

5 . Austria, Denmark - Score: 189

6 . France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden- Score: 188

7 . Belgium, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States- Score: 187

8 . Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, Norway: Score: 186

9 . Australia, Canada- Score: 185

10 . Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia- Score: 183

84. India, Gabon, Tajikistan - Score: 58

www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index allows you to compare your passport to others, find out the differences in visa-free access, and see where your passport ranks regionally and globally. It also also gives you access to 16 years’ worth of historical data, so you can see how the strength of your passport has changed over the years and view the top climbers and fallers on the index.

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