Most Powerful Passports in the World 2021

Among the many mandatory documents, a passport comes foremost if you need to travel or study abroad. You also need to get permission from the country you are travelling to for your arrival. However, some passports are considered to be very ‘powerful’ as it allows people to enter other countries easily, without any visa. So let us know about the most powerful passports in 2021 and the Henley passport index.  

The Passport Index

The Passport Index is a tool that helps its users with insights about passports, which include the ability to compare and rank the world’s passports. Rankings are based on the freedom of movement and visa-free travel open to holders of particular passports. The website allows the display of various territories’ passports using a variety of filters such as region and passport cover colour.

Also Read: Study Abroad Checklist

Henley Passport Index

Different factors affect travel freedom and the strength of a passport. The Henley Passport Index (HPI), which is compiled by Henley & Partners, is regarded as the authority on passport strength. It ranks every passport in the world by the travel freedom it allows. The top ten most powerful passports ranked through HPI are given in the table below. 

Sr.No.	Country	Visa-free visits
1	Japan	193
2	Singapore	192
3	Germany, South Korea	191
4	Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain	190
5	Austria, Denmark	189
6	France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden	188
7	Belgium, New Zealand, UK, US, Switzerland	187
8	Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, Norway	186
9	Australia, Canada	185
10	Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia	183

Let us know about some of the countries that come under the top 10 most powerful passports in the Henley Passport Index.

Explore: Should you Learn the Local Language Before Studying in Certain Countries?

How to Derive this Index?

For every destination, if no visa is required for passport holders from a country or territory, then a score with a value = 1 is created for that passport. Where a visa is required, or where a passport holder has to obtain a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score with value = 0 is assigned. 

The total score for each passport is equal to the number of destinations for which no visa is required (value = 1), under the conditions defined above.

The index assumes the following:

1. The passport is valid
2. The passport is ‘normal’ rather than diplomatic, emergency, or temporary
3. The passport holder is an adult citizen of the issuing country.
4. The passport holder has had all the necessary inoculations or vaccination
5. The passport holder is arriving at and departing from the same airport
6. The passport holder is seeking a short stay rather than a transit stay in the destination country or territory
7. The port of entry is a major city or capital, in cases where this is required
8. Entry to the destination country is for tourist or business purposes.

The visa policy of Greenland and the Faroe Islands is taken to be the same as that of Denmark.

The World’s Most Powerful Passports

Here are the details about the world’s most powerful passports.

• In 2021, the most powerful passport in the world for travel freedom is the Japanese passport, according to the Henley Passport Index. A passport issued by Japan allows the holder to enter 193 different countries and territories without having to get a visa in advance.
• The second-best passport to hold, according to Henley, is a Singaporean passport. This is close behind Japan with 192 destinations.
• Germany and South Korea are tied for 3rd place. Passports issued by these countries grant visa-free travel to 191 destinations around the globe.
• A lot of countries from the European Union (EU) are in the top-ranked passports list. Italian, Finnish, Luxembourgish, and Spanish passports share 4th place, while Austrian and Danish passports tie for 5th. French, Irish, Dutch, Portuguese, and Swedish passports are co-ranked 6th.
• The top 10 passports in the world also include passports of the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
• Australian and Canadian passports are tied as the 9th strongest passports in the world, allowing access to 185 destinations without a visa.

Where Does India Stand?

India stands at number 84 on the list, as the Indian citizens can visit Visa-Free or Visa-on-Arrival in over 58 places.

FAQs

We hope you know the details about the most powerful passports in the World and the values each one holds according to Henley passport index. Considering studying abroad? Contact Leverage Edu to get the right guidance at every step of the process, from finding the right course and university to drafting a winning application.