The most powerful passports in the world

As the covid-19 pandemic is falling behind on the schedule thanks, in part, to the vaccination, countries begin to lift health restrictions and with it, the demand for international flights increases.

(See: Tourism shows signs of recovery in Latin America after pandemic).

For the latter, a passport is required. A document that allows the identification of the national of a country (by birth or adoption) in the foreign territory and, depending on the country of origin, this citizen must present visas or not, in that State that receives him.

The international consultant Henley & Partners presented this week the 2022 edition of its prestigious list of the most powerful passports in the world. The document is considered to have this quality when it allows the greatest amount of income to other countries without the need for a visa.

According to the most recent listing, “the passport holders with the most global access are currently the most restricted and reluctant to enjoy their freedom of travel”. This conclusion comes from the fact that, again, Japan tops the ranking with visa-free access to 193 countries.

The insular territory is followed by Singapore and South Korea tied for second with freedom to enter 192 territories without a required visa.

(See: The new air routes to and from Colombia that have been authorized).

The rest of the top ten positions are occupied by the countries of the European Union, as well as their allies. To mention: Germany and Spain tied for third position (190 visa-free countries); Finland, Italy and Luxembourg share the fourth box (189 countries) and, in fifth place, are Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden with free access to 188 territories.

France, Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom they share the sixth position with 187 free countries. It is worth noting that the British passport fell one position compared to the 2021 ranking.

Another passport that also fell one position was that of USA, which is now in the seventh box (186) sharing with Belgium, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

As a general conclusion to the listing, Henley & Partnerts noted that “high-ranking passports have recovered almost to pre-pandemic levels in terms of access”. The recovery of the United Kingdom and the United States stood out.

The weaker passports, that is, with the least amount of visa-free income, are those of the nations of Afghanistan (27); Iraq (29) and Syria (30).

On the other hand, a detail that the report highlights is that the Ukrainian passport has the possibility of continuing to climb positions in the coming years, due to the recent process on the linking of the former Soviet republic to the EU.

In the list of the international consultant, the passport of Chili It ranks as the best identification document abroad (box 16 globally) with the possibility of entering 174 countries without a visa, including the United States.

In position 19 are the passports of Argentina and Brazil with which you can enter 170 territories without a visa.

(See: Air passenger traffic in the country, the highest in 5 years).

Mexico (159 countries) and Uruguay (153) they occupy the fourth and fifth position, respectively, among the best identification documents abroad.

then they meet Costa Rica (150), Panama (143), Paraguay (142), Peru (136), El Salvador (134), Guatemala (133), Honduras (133), and Colombia (132).

Venezuela (129), Nicaragua (128), Ecuador (92), Bolivia (80), Dominican Republic (70) and Cuba (65) They are the weakest in the region.

The Colombian identification document It is the thirteenth most powerful in Latin America with the possibility of entering 132 countries without the need for a visa.

This position of 2022, in box 41, is the best record for the Colombian passport in the 17 editions that complete the list of the international consultant and improvement in three positions compared to the result of 2021 (position 43).

(See: The Plus Ultra airline begins air operations in Colombia).

In the 2006-2009 period, the Colombian passport maintained position 64 on the list, while its worst result was in 2011 when it fell to 77th place, after falling four places compared to the figure for 2010 (73).

ROBERTO CASAS LUGO
Journalist Portfolio