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Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
- slazaro 11y agoUnsurprisingly, the Swiss passport is the one with the most interesting and visually pleasing design.
- biftek 11y agoI thought the same thing, didn't even have to click on it to know that was swiss. The Vatican passport is pretty nice too, with only the gold emblem on black.
- joosters 11y agoI like the Vatican passport design too. I wonder if the inside is written in Latin?
- ptaipale 11y agoNo, it seems to be Italian (with French and English to support). http://www.quora.com/What-does-the-inside-of-todays-Vatican-passport-look-like http://www.quora.com/What-does-the-inside-of-todays-Vatican-...
- antoinealb 11y agoSerious question: why is it unsurprising ?
- chestnut-tree 11y agoSwiss graphic design is very well known all over the world (at least by Graphic Designers). Words often used to descrbe it are: modern, clean, minimal, unfussy, neutral, rational. (People who dislike the style might also sometimes describe it as cold or even bland.)
- ptaipale 11y agoThat's right. Also, we all probably know Helvetica, the font, named after the country.
- chestnut-tree 11y agoI personally found looking at the visual design of the passport covers to be much more interesting than the 'power ranking'. It would be interesting to know what each passport image depicts or represents. I really like Sweden's passport cover. Maybe it's partly because the passport image isn't centred that makes it a bit less stuffy and official. Others I liked: UK, Malta, Mauritius - all old-fashioned but still quite nice. In fact, all of the passports look old-fashioned with their historic emblems (although El Salvador has an outline of the country, rather than an emblem). The Swiss one is the only one that looks modern in this regard.
- mythealias 11y agoWould be nice if it also listed the countries that you could travel to.
- equil 11y agothere's always wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Visa_requirements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Visa_requirements
- mythealias 11y agoyes of course :)
- dklsf 11y agoDoesn't look like the information on that site is correct. Or at least, it disagrees with https://www.henleyglobal.com/international-visa-restrictions/ https://www.henleyglobal.com/international-visa-restrictions... The differences are quite striking, the US isn't even in the top 10.
- maxerickson 11y agoI just downloaded the pdf (yay mailinator). It lists the US as a number 1 country there (with 174 visa free countries), I guess they omit it on the free list to gather email addresses.
- curun1r 11y agoI would think that a Passport Power Index would include more than just where you can go visa-free. Things like availability of embassies and consular services would also factor in. Is your government going to intervene if you get into trouble abroad? If so, how effective are they at doing so? Can you buy property outside your own country? If so, how many countries allow it and are there any restrictions? I think your link takes a very narrow definition into its rankings. I'm not sure how broad the index in the story is, but it seems to take into account more than just visa requirements.
- golergka 11y agoWhat if you have two passports, what's your cumulative passport power? Or a passport from one country and lassiez passer from another?
- gervase 11y agoAdditionally, it would be helpful if you could select your passports, and then it would suggest on a per-country which passport to use for entry, based on visa restrictions, costs, etc. There are a number of websites that offer the information listed in the post, but nothing that provides the details I just described.
- kiiski 11y agoThis seems to only consider the number of countries one can travel to without a visa as a tourist. So it doesn't consider the ability to move to or work/study at another country.
- notahacker 11y agoOr indeed the countries that flat out ban you from visiting them if you travel on certain passports, which is going to be much more of a problem for Israelis than, say, Brazilians, even if this index indicates other countries are less strict on visa terms for Israelis than Brazilians.
- ptaipale 11y agoIt's really an exception if you can work/study at another country without a visa/residence permit. A more relevant question is whether you can make a business trip, or act as a journalist, without a visa. For instance, ESTA for a tourist in the USA is an easy thing, but if the same person wants to come for a few weeks and work as a journalist, e.g. make interviews, then the visa process is very very different. The USA does not offer that much freedom for foreign press, really. A zone of visa-free exceptions has been created in the Schengen area, but even there you'll need to apply for a work permit for longer stints (and the host country is obliged to give it to citizens of other Schengen countries, with some exceptions).
- kiiski 11y agoWhile the whole Schengen area may not allow you to work everywhere, the core EU area pretty much does[1]. Of course you may have to do some paper work, but, generally, if you have a job offer from another EU country, you will be able to take it without having to worry about getting a visa. Nordic countries also have their own passport union, so a Finnish passport, for example, will let you go and work in Iceland or Norway pretty freely. I would imagine there are be some other regions that have similiar agreements. I think that the Commonwealth at least used to have some benefits for its citizens, but I'm not sure how much of those remain. [1] http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_abroad/working_abroad/working_in_the_eu.html http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_a...
- philtar 11y agoDoesn't take much into consideration. E.G, look at where the UAE passport is ranked. A fresh graduate working in Abu Dhabi earns 60k+ a year, gets a free piece of land and a $400,000 loan interest free to build a house on that piece of land.
- CaveTech 11y agoThat has nothing to do with having a passport.
- davidw 11y agoNot particularly interesting, but now I'm curious what one country makes the difference between South Korea, Germany and France, at 145, and Italy and Sweden at 144.
- darrhiggs 11y agoIt's not one country. Differences between France and South Korea include - not exclusively - Russia, Mongolia, and Namibia.[0][1] [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_French_citizens#Visa_requirements_map https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_French_c... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_South_Korean_citizens#Visa_requirements_map https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_South_Ko...
- kudu 11y agoThere are some important considerations here that haven't been taken into account. For example, the United States is the only major country in the world that taxes non-resident citizens on their worldwide income, which makes it one of the most inconvenient passports to hold. Additionally, holding an EU passport allows one to work, study, etc. in any EU country, rather than simply visit it.
- bane 11y agoIf you think of the US as a more federated version of the EU, you don't even need a passport to relocate within the US.
- redblacktree 11y agoThis is a good point. There really are a lot of varied cultures in the US. The Louisiana Bayou looks nothing like the Eastern Seaboard, as an example.
- maxerickson 11y agoOnce you factor in the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit, it is the filing requirement that is onerous, not the taxation. The first $100,000 of income can be excluded. On income above that, the US demands the difference if the taxes in the foreign country are less than US taxes. I think you acknowledge all this quite well when you call it inconvenient, but I think people don't need to be horribly outraged about it (I think the policy likely does close a path of tax avoidance that would be well used, but I'm pretty ambivalent about whether it is reasonable).
- walshemj 11y agobut this also applies to those dual nationals who have no relsionship with the USA - I doubt that Boris Johnson found it fun to have to file another tax return when dealing with his late mothers estate. BTW for non uk people Boris is going to be the next Leader of the Tory's and possibly PM within 5 years
- snitko 11y agoIt is an absolute disgrace that people are limited in their ability to travel where they want to simply because they happened to be born in a certain place. If you look at that and don't see how this is basically a prison system, you are just endlessly ignorant.
- pinaceae 11y agovisa restrictions into the US and EU exist to protect their own population, as voted and decided upon by their democratic systems. the world is a bit more complicated than your comment implies.
- snitko 11y agoYes. Many things in the world exist because the majority thinks it's a good idea. Doesn't mean it is. 200 years ago the majority thought slavery was ok. I'm still yet to see anyone who'd convince me why is it that I need to get a permission from a bureaucrat just to see my friend, when my friend doesn't approve of that policy and never voted for anything like that to be instituted. Me not visiting my friend more often doesn't protect a single soul. All the while, criminals with legalized money buy residencies and citizenship left and right. Tell me more about how that protects anyone even remotely.
- pinaceae 11y agolaws exist to cover for the majority of use cases, not individual, well reasoned exceptions. start with hammurabi and read on, the worl of bureaucracy has a lot more background and sense than you imagine.
- snitko 11y agoI do not approve of collectivism, not even in law and order. When you say "laws exist" who are you to decide why they exist? I for one think they exist (in the current, monopolized form) to control the general population while elites are practically exempt. Prove me wrong and please use logic and evidence, not some theory that justifies bureaucracy.
- the_mitsuhiko 11y agoThe information onthat site seems wrong. Austria's passport has visa free access to more than 170 countries and there are passports that have more than that. Yet it shows the UK with less than 150.
- maxerickson 11y agoSomething is wrong with the site. I'm fairly certain that when I first viewed the US and UK it said 174 (only fairly certain because I am prone to flipping digits and the second time it said 147). Now it doesn't show any number for the US. Edit: and now it does show 147 again. If I remember correctly, other entries also lost ~30 from their totals.
- pinaceae 11y agodoes it take it into consideration that the US and Israeli passport make you active targets in certain parts of the world?
- joosters 11y agoNo. But thanks for asking, always happy to help! Other things not taken into account: * Passport weight index (how hefty is your passport? is it any good as a baton? Page count and binding are important here) * Passport prettiness index (how dull or interesting are the blank pages in your passport)? * Passport value index (what's the black market price for each country's passport?) * etc etc 1/10 site woefully incomplete.
- bluerobotcat 11y agoThe number of countries that you can enter without a visa might not be the best metric. For example, if you have a US or Signapore passport, you might be able to enter a lot of countries without a visa, but Brazil is not one of them. Brazil is obviously a hugely important country, so that seems like a notable disadvantage. EU citizens can enter Brazil without a visa. Additionally, there are several countries that have special (higher) visa fees for processing US passports. Having a Schengen passport is also pretty sweet if you want to move to a different Schengen country. Finally, if you get kidnapped for a random, you don't want to have to rely on a US passport! (Then again, if you get kidnapped by North Korea, Bill Clinton might personally fly over to negotiate your release.)
- seanmcdirmid 11y agoChina, Russia, India, Indonesia (With VOA) also require visas for Americans, often with retaliatory fees for the visa (they charge us what we charge them). I was surprised that I need a visa to go to austrailia, out of all places, though at least we can do it online...
- k-mcgrady 11y ago>> "I was surprised that I need a visa to go to austrailia, out of all places" Why?
- scurvy 11y agoConsidering the ANZUS treaty, it is odd that US tourists need a visa to visit Australia. Especially since Gillard said, "Australia does not forget" in reference to Coral Sea.
- Veratyr 11y agoIt's also odd that Australians need a 'visa' to visit the US for the same reasons. Yet we still need ESTAs (which are essentially the same as the electronic visas Americans require).
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- bane 11y agoI've always thought this kind of comparison wasn't as meaningful as "how many square km of the planet does your passport grant you access to? Countries vary in size too much.
- joosters 11y agoHow is that more meaningful, unless you value every square kilometer of Siberia, for instance? Or you could argue that having access to all of the seas without a passport means that the per-km2 value of a passport is actually relatively small? :)
- bane 11y agoSuppose your passport only granted you access to 4 countries. Mine gets me to Russia, Canada, the U.S. and China. Yours gets you to Grenada, Malta, Maldives and Saint Kitts and Nevis (ignoring the EU for a moment). Which one is "more powerful"? Obviously mine is since I get to enjoy most of the landmass of the Northern Hemisphere while yours gets you access to a handful of minor island nations.
- tedunangst 11y agoGDP would be a good measure.
- 31reasons 11y agoMaybe the power rank should be self-referencial. More higher power-rank country you can visit higher your power-rank.
- throw_away 11y agofrom another post in this thread: http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/rank/passport/ http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/rank/passport/ lists both land area and population rankings, also inverse rankings based on who can enter the country: http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/rank/border/ http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/rank/border/
- joosters 11y agoIs there a way to get any information beyond the magic numbers on that site? e.g. a US passport allows entry to 147 countries, but can I list which ones? Or which ones it doesn't allow access to? Or what the difference is between two passports? Another possible index would be a reverse lookup per-country, showing how many other countries can visit it without a visa. Something like a 'country freedom index' or somesuch.
- balls187 11y agoUS State Department Site.
- vowelless 11y agoThis website claims its 168 countries: http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/passport/United%20States http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/passport/United%20States
- q_revert 11y agoAs an Irish citizen I was wondering which countries our British counterparts could get to that we couldn't :) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Visa_requirements_for_Irish_citizens.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Visa_req... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Visa_requirements_for_British_citizens.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Visa_req... compare -metric AE -fuzz 5% Visa_requirements_for_British_citizens.png Visa_requirements_for_Irish_citizens.png comparison.png http://i.imgur.com/QdCdb8r.png http://i.imgur.com/QdCdb8r.png
- k-mcgrady 11y agoThanks for doing that comparison. It's particularly interesting for those of us up north who can carry both and Irish and British passport.
- allendoerfer 11y agoCompare that to this table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_%28document%29#Visa_policies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_%28document%29#Visa_polici... States that get the most give the least.
- bjelkeman-again 11y agoI think it is interesting that this is essentially an somewhat subtle ad for investment banking for high net worth individuals.
- Geee 11y agoThese numbers seem to be incorrect, comparing to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_(document)#Visa_Restrictions_Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_(document)#Visa_Restrictio...
- ta41q 11y agowasn't this on front of HN like just a week ago?
- vowelless 11y agoI prefer this web site: http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/ http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/ It also gives you information about which passports a country allows: Where can a US passport take you: http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/passport/United%20States http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/passport/United%20States Citizens of which countries are allowed to enter the US without a visa: http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/border/United%20States http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/border/United%20States It's also fascinating to see the cultural divides like 'Western world', 'Muslim world', etc based on the passport and border information. Another interesting thing is where the Israeli passport can take you: http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/passport/israel http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/passport/israel The border of India is surprisingly restricted: http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/border/india http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/border/india looks like only citizens of Nepal and Bhutan are allowed without a visa.
- mavdi 11y agoSwiss passport cover is lovely. Looks like a medical card.
- subliminalpanda 11y agoOman. Not to great, but not too bad either. On the plus side I always joke that we're the friendly Arabs because no one has ever heard of us.
- madamepsychosis 11y agoMore interesting would be to rank citizenship by price. For example, you can directly get Maltese citizenship for $150k. Indirectly you can get a green card for $500k. Maybe someone could sort through all these direct and indirect rules to classify citizenships by value.
- wolfgke 11y agoWhat I'd be interested in is a table of countries that I cannot/(can) enter with the country's passport. I couldn't find such a table.
- sososoko 11y agoWhich country are you from? For me( a Zimbabwean) i rely on these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Zimbabwean_citizens http://www.doyouneedvisa.com/passport/Zimbabwe
- grecy 11y agoCan we get the data behind this? I need to start investigating the entrance requirements for myself into pretty much every country in Africa, and I have not found a convenient way to do so yet. I have two passports, so I need to figure out which one is best in each country.
- maxerickson 11y agoThey are pulling data from IATA, which offers an information site: http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/ http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/ It isn't really very convenient for the use you propose (it returns info based on one passport-destination pair at a time).
- yzh 11y agoI'm interested in doing some graph analytics for each country's VISA policy. Where can I find the full list of each country's visa free countries list?
- azinman2 11y agoWow North Korea has more rank than a good 15/20 countries!