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The 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

The 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 ago
China, 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 ago
    Considering 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 ago
      It'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).
- _p6fl 11y ago
  In case you were unaware, nobody (other than US citizens and Canadians) can get into the United States without a 'visa' of some kind. Even if you're from the United Kingdom for example, you still need an ESTA, which although it isn't called a 'visa', is required prior to travel like a visa and costs a fee like a visa.
  - wodenokoto 11y ago
    Esta is only for flying.
- kw71 11y ago
  The Australia Electronic Travel Authority is relatively painless, cheap and instant, compared to the ordeal of leaving your passport at an embassy for days and paying them hundreds of dollars to get a visa pasted in, as I have experienced with other countries.
  - seanmcdirmid 11y ago
    Oh, I'm sure. It was just weird that I can fly to Europe or even next door Bali (since Indonesia has VOA) on a whim, but not Australia. I totally get that the US requires this also, and it is all probably retaliatory.
avar 11y ago
Passport goodwill is also another metric that's often overlooked. Would you rather have to apply for a visa to enter a few obscure countries on the planet, or regularly have to deal with scorn from border guards because your country bombed theirs within living memory? As an aside you're misinformed about what Schengen is. Having a passport from a country in Schengen has nothing to do with being able to move to a different Schengen country per-se. You're thinking of the European Economic Area. Schengen is a passport-control free zone, whereas the EEA guarantees your freedom of movement between any EEA countries, regardless of whether or not you have to show your passport on arrival.
scurvy 11y ago
Brazil has been less and less of a hugely important country over the past few years than it was a decade ago. China gobbling up commodities brought Brazil back on to the world stage. Now that commodities like oil and steel have crashed and are predicted to go sideways for a decade or more, Brazil seems relegated to irrelevance for a while. That is, unless you run a Target or Walmart in south Florida.
616c 11y ago
> The number of countries that you can enter without a visa might not be the best metric. I will lol, and assume you have no Arab friends, specifically Lebanese. The Lebanese passport, as my numerous Lebanese friends joke about, is usually ranked in the top ten worst worldwide "top 10" comedy lists. But seriously, it is on par with this metric for Somalia and other failed African states. You try going with the employed ones on business outside of the UAE, and you will see how much fun this metric can be for you.
- rosser 11y ago
  Can confirm. I was recently traveling back to (well, in her case through) the US from overseas with a Lebanese friend. When we got to the point in the customs/immigration process where they decide whose knickers to rifle through, and who merely gets a "Welcome to America", guess which of us got which. This is her normal. She's missed connecting flights, plural, because of the increased scrutiny. I'm expecting to be subject to all kinds of extra scrutiny myself, after I visit there later this year. I'm sure having a Lebanese entry stamp on my passport will raise plenty of eyebrows going forward.
- bluerobotcat 11y ago
  I have lived in two developing countries. I would by no means dismiss the usefulness of a passport from a modern country.
UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
> Additionally, there are several countries that have special (higher) visa fees for processing US passports. That's true, but a lot of it is because they mirror how much the US charges their citizens. So a US tourist visa is $160 for 1 to 10 years (and between 1 and multiple stays up to six months). So if US citizens think it is "unfair" that they have to pay more to apply for visas abroad, then ask your own government to reduce visa application fees.

seanmcdirmid 11y ago

China, 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 ago
  Considering 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 ago
    It'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).
_p6fl 11y ago
In case you were unaware, nobody (other than US citizens and Canadians) can get into the United States without a 'visa' of some kind. Even if you're from the United Kingdom for example, you still need an ESTA, which although it isn't called a 'visa', is required prior to travel like a visa and costs a fee like a visa.
- wodenokoto 11y ago
  Esta is only for flying.
kw71 11y ago
The Australia Electronic Travel Authority is relatively painless, cheap and instant, compared to the ordeal of leaving your passport at an embassy for days and paying them hundreds of dollars to get a visa pasted in, as I have experienced with other countries.
- seanmcdirmid 11y ago
  Oh, I'm sure. It was just weird that I can fly to Europe or even next door Bali (since Indonesia has VOA) on a whim, but not Australia. I totally get that the US requires this also, and it is all probably retaliatory.

avar 11y ago

Passport goodwill is also another metric that's often overlooked. Would you rather have to apply for a visa to enter a few obscure countries on the planet, or regularly have to deal with scorn from border guards because your country bombed theirs within living memory? As an aside you're misinformed about what Schengen is. Having a passport from a country in Schengen has nothing to do with being able to move to a different Schengen country per-se. You're thinking of the European Economic Area. Schengen is a passport-control free zone, whereas the EEA guarantees your freedom of movement between any EEA countries, regardless of whether or not you have to show your passport on arrival.

scurvy 11y ago

Brazil has been less and less of a hugely important country over the past few years than it was a decade ago. China gobbling up commodities brought Brazil back on to the world stage. Now that commodities like oil and steel have crashed and are predicted to go sideways for a decade or more, Brazil seems relegated to irrelevance for a while. That is, unless you run a Target or Walmart in south Florida.

616c 11y ago

> The number of countries that you can enter without a visa might not be the best metric. I will lol, and assume you have no Arab friends, specifically Lebanese. The Lebanese passport, as my numerous Lebanese friends joke about, is usually ranked in the top ten worst worldwide "top 10" comedy lists. But seriously, it is on par with this metric for Somalia and other failed African states. You try going with the employed ones on business outside of the UAE, and you will see how much fun this metric can be for you.

rosser 11y ago
Can confirm. I was recently traveling back to (well, in her case through) the US from overseas with a Lebanese friend. When we got to the point in the customs/immigration process where they decide whose knickers to rifle through, and who merely gets a "Welcome to America", guess which of us got which. This is her normal. She's missed connecting flights, plural, because of the increased scrutiny. I'm expecting to be subject to all kinds of extra scrutiny myself, after I visit there later this year. I'm sure having a Lebanese entry stamp on my passport will raise plenty of eyebrows going forward.
bluerobotcat 11y ago
I have lived in two developing countries. I would by no means dismiss the usefulness of a passport from a modern country.

UnoriginalGuy 11y ago

> Additionally, there are several countries that have special (higher) visa fees for processing US passports. That's true, but a lot of it is because they mirror how much the US charges their citizens. So a US tourist visa is $160 for 1 to 10 years (and between 1 and multiple stays up to six months). So if US citizens think it is "unfair" that they have to pay more to apply for visas abroad, then ask your own government to reduce visa application fees.