Henley Passport Index
Context: Japan tops the list of being the most powerful passport in the world for the year 2021, according to the latest report by the Henley Passport Index.
Highlights:
- The Henley Passport Index ranks the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
- A visa is an official document that allows the bearer to legally enter a foreign country. It is often governed by a diplomatic arrangement between nations.
- Most visa policies are bilateral, meaning that the two countries will allow visa-free travel to each other’s citizens. That is not a rule, though and situations may differ.
- Japan ranks as the top-most passport, India ranks 85 in 2021 on the Henley Passport Index. India's position this year is three spots lower than the same in 2019 and 2020 rankings.
- This ranking is also based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information.
- The team at Henley's enhances the IATA data inputs by adding the ongoing research data inputs provided by the Henley & Partners Research Department.
The importance of Visa-free arrangements between nations:
- The visa is an essential accompaniment to the passport.
- If the passport is the portal to the outside world, the visa is the password to the various sites across the world.
- A Visa is usually stamped or glued into the bearer’s passport.
- There are several different types of visas, each of which affords the bearer different rights in the host country.
- The world order of today dictates that no immigration should happen without an agreement between the traveller's home nation and the destination country.
- A country’s visa policy is a rule that states who may or may not enter the country.
- The policy may allow passport holders of one country to enter visa-free but not the passport holders of another country.
- There are quid pro quo arrangements between nations though.
- Most visa policies are bilateral, meaning that the two countries will allow visa-free travel to each other’s citizens, but this is not always the case.
- A country's visa policies are often governed by considerations such as diplomatic relations with the other country, the history, if any, of illegal immigration from the country, cost and tourism factors, etc.
- If your home country has a visa agreement with the country to which you intend to travel, then you likely will not need to apply for a visa beforehand.
- In the absence of a visa agreement between the traveller's home country and the intended destination, one must apply for a visa before travelling.
Henley Passport Index 2021 ranking:
- Japan (191 destinations)
- Singapore (190)
- South Korea, Germany (189)
- Italy, Finland, Spain, Luxembourg (188)
- Denmark, Austria (187)
- Sweden, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland (186)
- Switzerland, United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, New Zealand (185)
- Greece, Malta, Czech Republic, Australia (184)
- Canada (183)
- Hungary (181)
- The Henley Passport Index (HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom for their citizens.
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