
Henley Passport Index – The number of countries holders can travel to visa-free - sohkamyung
https://www.henleyglobal.com/henley-passport-index/
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kalleboo
This index is missing bonus points for countries you're allowed to not just
visit as a tourist but also live and work in visa-free - i.e. giving a boost
to Schengen passports. Are there any other countries with similar agreements?
The only one I know of is the Nordic Passport Union which includes some non-EU
countries.

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mmusc
Its also convenient that they sell some of those top ranking passports if you
have enough cash
[https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/71668/henley_als...](https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/71668/henley_also_paid_when_iip_citizen_buys_government_stocks)

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bradleyjg
Even though Japan and Singapore are tied at 180 a piece, they don't have the
same 180.

Japan but not Singapore: India, Ethiopia, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe,
Falkland Islands, Guyana, and Venezuela

Singapore but not Japan: Myanmar, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana,
Cuba, Brazil

I think you have to give the tie breaker to Japan because India is #2 in the
world based on population and #6 based on GDP.

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_jn
Their competitor's website (which has slightly nicer sorting/filtering
functions, imo) is here:
[https://www.passportindex.org](https://www.passportindex.org)

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darklajid
These rankings are the source of a constant joke between my girlfriend and me.

She, Singaporean, previously proudly pointed me at these lists to support her
claim that the SG passport is the world's best. Over the last couple month the
numbers shifted around a bit and for a time my German passport was ranked the
same and for a while even higher.

Given that I have not a lot of experience with visa issues (due to the
passport and limited traveling, mostly around in the Schengen area on top):
How expensive/difficult/limiting is it if you need a visa for a lot of
locations?

I think the only visa I ever needed was one for India and that was rather
painless, straightforward and fast.

~~~
HeavenFox
You are lucky.

I hold a Chinese passport, which is one of the worst when it comes to visa
restrictions.

The only upside I is I never make any visa mistakes - it’s hard to find out
last minute you need a visa, when you need visa to practically anywhere!

Every international trip requires careful planning in advance. What countries
I am visiting? What kind if visa should I get? When is the consulate open? Is
there still appointments available? This is especially frustrating when
visiting border regions - I had to skip the Argentinian side of Iguacu Falls
because I will need another visa. This also makes it hard to go on spur of the
moment trips.

Each visa application requires two trips to the consulate (one to send in the
application and one to pick it up. a few issue them on the spot, but you will
need to sit there for a couple of hours for them to print it), and around $100
in fees. The application form is very tedious and need all kind of supporting
material. They usually require you to book the airfare and hotel, but are not
responsible for any non refundable purchase if the visa is denied. Medical
insurance requirement for Schengen Area is the most annoying. My health
insurance covers emergency treatment abroad, and credit card insurance covers
accidents, but they cannot give me a letter that says the magic word the
consulate wants ($50k coverage, no deductible, covers treatment, evacuation
and repatriation) so I have to buy commercial insurance that I don’t need
(there’s literally tons of businesses selling insurance and letter as a
package). You also need to provide pay slip and bank statement, but
comparatively they are minor annoyances.

So what kind of visa will you get? It varies by consulate, and there’s little
you can do about them. UK issues two-year visa in China, but not in the U.S.
(technically they do, they just cost an astronomical sum) Japan issues five
year visa for H1B holders in Detroit and San Francisco, but not New York and
Washington.

Do you have a question? Good luck finding someone who can help. Visa section
typically don’t have phone numbers, so you have to send an email and hope for
a reply (if you are lucky they have published their address) or go in and ask.

An often overlooked problem with needing so many visas is your passport run
out faster - each visa takes two pages, one for the sticker and another for
the stamp. Replacing passport is, of course, annoying and costly.

So yeah, it is miserable. Hopefully this encourages you to travel the world
more, knowing how lucky you are with your passports :)

~~~
TheArcane
The worst part is that the visitors visa issued by most of these countries
expires after mostly 6 months.

So you wanna visit the UK again with an Indian passport after your last trip
in July? Tough luck; go through the whole process again.

~~~
hackerman12345
Is that common? My tourist visa to Brazil lasts 10 years, which is standard I
thought.

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pacaro
More interesting than the list of individual countries, is which dual
citizenship’s give the “best” value. I’m eligible for citizenship of at least
4 countries, typically it’s hard to maintain more than dual citizenship, so if
this was the vector I wanted to optimize on, which pair would be best?

~~~
jk2323
"typically it’s hard to maintain more than dual citizenship"

I am considering taking a 3rd. I am aware of some of the hurdles but out of
curiosity, where do you see problems?

~~~
nraynaud
Generally they don’t want to give naturalization to people with more than one
nationality. But if you are a full right citizen by an other rule, you could
end up with more than that.

A small detail has to be noted, wether it has been recognized or not and
claimed or not, a lot of rules give citizenship to people. The paperwork is
about claiming it officially.

~~~
jpatokal
Got source? The vast majority of countries either a) insist you renounce _all_
other citizenships on naturalization, whether it's one or three, or b) don't
care how many you have.

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verbify
Some will allow dual citizenship, but place conditions that make it difficult
to get more than one. E.g., German citizenship law allows dual citizenship if:

> If a child born to German parents acquires another citizenship at birth
> (e.g., based on place of birth [birth in jus-soli countries mostly of the
> Americas], or descent from one parent [one German parent and one foreign
> parent]).

In theory somebody could have two or three nationalities under that law (two
parents and place of birth) but no more.

~~~
acoster
You could add a fourth under certain conditions:

Say one parent is German and the other is British, and the child was born in
Brazil. If the kid is entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return,
they get to keep all four.

~~~
verbify
Not quite - the law of return would lead to a renouncing of German
citizenship.

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tallanvor
One thing I don't like about this is it looks like they consider countries
that require an ETA to be visa free, which I don't agree with. To me that's
still basically a visa.

~~~
varjag
The practical difference between visa free and ETA is much less than between
ETA and proper visa. You skip embassy/consulate appointment (often two, often
for all your family members in person, often in another city or even country),
and you often don't pay anything. Many ETAs are done once and for substantial
periods, sometimes until your passport's expiry date.

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Angostura
The UK could soon see its ranking change rather substantially

~~~
dogma1138
The UK will not lose visa free or VoA access to the EU due to Brexit.

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kockic
I can't imagine that this is still a thing in 21st century. We should be able
to travel anywhere.

~~~
akkat
You can see how there are many political battles in the US simply because
Russia bought some political ads and other things that are perfectly legal for
US citizens to do. Imagine if Russia literally sent several thousand people to
states that allow people to vote without IDs.

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sohkamyung
> sent several thousand people to states that allow people to vote without
> IDs.

That is strictly not true, I believe. In the US, some form of ID (not
necessary a Photo ID) is required to vote [1]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_ID_laws_in_the_United_St...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_ID_laws_in_the_United_States)

~~~
akkat
according to your link > No ID required to vote at ballot box: California,
Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada,
New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C.

~~~
sohkamyung
That's the top level view. A deep dig in the "Laws by state" section shows
that some form of ID is still needed.

For example:

Maine: No ID needed at polling place if registered to vote at least one day
prior to election. However an ID is required to vote if person was registered
to vote on the day of the election

Massachusetts: Non-photographic ID is accepted at polling stations.

Minnesota: Non-photographic ID is accepted at polling stations.

Some of those states are also getting legislation requiring ID for voting.

~~~
akkat
Maine's law is pretty weak. All one has to do is register more than a day
before the election and then they don't need an ID. I don't know how easy it
is to register in Maine, but California is laughably easy. Just check the
boxes saying that you don't have an ID, SSN, address or phone number, and then
you can register with very little information.

