The U.S. is on the point of exiting the highest 10 in an annual rating of the world’s strongest passports for the primary time within the index’s 20-year historical past.
American passports fell to a tenth place tie, collectively held by Iceland and Lithuania, on this 12 months’s Henley Passport Index — which bases its rankings on what number of locations a passport’s holder can enter and not using a visa. The U.S. has fallen within the rankings yearly since 2014, when its passports have been ranked as essentially the most highly effective.
The U.S. has visa-free entry to 182 locations, whereas a passport from Singapore, which holds the highest spot, grants the holder visa-free entry to 193 locations, in response to the Index. In a Tuesday information launch, Henley, a London-based international migration guide group, famous that nations just like the U.S. and U.Okay. “seem like retreating behind extra restrictive entry insurance policies.”
“Your passport is now not only a journey doc — it is a reflection of your nation’s diplomatic affect and worldwide relationships,” Henley & Companions CEO Dr. Juerg Steffen mentioned in a information launch.
American vacationers can discover out which nations require a visa by utilizing the U.S. State Division’s Study About Your Vacation spot search software.
The U.S. additionally ranks low on “openness,” solely permitting 46 different nationalities to go to visa-free, in response to the index. Entry necessities to the U.S. are primarily based on a number of components, together with nationwide safety, public security and statutory necessities, in response to the State Division.
In a press release, a State Division spokesperson mentioned the federal company stays assured within the power and international attain of the U.S. passport.
“Whereas worldwide passport rankings might range primarily based on methodology, our focus stays on facilitating safe, environment friendly, and reciprocal journey for Americans and overseas nationals alike,” the spokesperson mentioned.
In second place on this 12 months’s Henley index are Japan and South Korea, with passports from these nations each granting holders visa-free entry to 190 different nations. A lot of the remaining high 10 slots, which embrace a number of tied rankings, are held by European nations, apart from the United Arab Emirates and Canada in a tie for eighth place and the U.S. within the 10 spot.
Afghanistan is ranked final. Its passport grants visa-free entry to simply 25 nations.
Henley says its index is predicated on unique information from the Worldwide Air Transport Affiliation, a significant journey data database.
“The consolidation we’re seeing on the high underscores that entry is earned – and should be maintained – by way of energetic and strategic diplomacy,” mentioned Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, inventor of the passport-index idea, in a press release. “Nations that proactively negotiate visa waivers and nurture reciprocal agreements proceed to rise, whereas the alternative applies to people who are much less engaged in such efforts.”
