Have you ever asked yourself how many countries you can travel without a visa? How liberating or how powerful your passport is? Well, that may differ a lot from nationality to nationality.
Depending on which countries or regions were taken into account, whether visa on arrival / eVisa also gave points, etc., in 2016 the German passport received the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index of 177 and thus took the first place just ahead of Sweden (176) and Finland, France, Italy, Spain and the UK (all 175). Also according to the website Passport Index Germany achieves first place in both Global and Individual Rank with a visa-free score of 158, followed closely by Sweden and Singapore (both 157), Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, Norway, the United Kingdom and the USA (all 156). According to the Passport Index, with a German passport you can enter 124 countries without a visa, as well as 34 additional countries with visa on arrival, which you can get without prior application upon arrival in the country. In the last places are in both methodologies the Iraq (30 or 28 respectively), Pakistan (29 or 26) and Afghanistan (25 or 23 respectively). You see, there are huge differences here.
But which countries can I travel visa-free?
This question can be hardly answered without knowing your nationality. However, it’s easy to say for entering the Schengen states:
European Union
Special visa-free provisions (Schengen Agreement, Overseas Countries and Territories or other)
Visa-free access to the Schengen states for 90 days
Visa required to enter the Schengen states
Visa required for transit via Schengen states
For a quick overview of whether and in case of doubt which visa you need to enter another country, visit Passport Index. In addition to other gimmicks, you can compare up to four different passports with each other.
For some countries like Australia, Canada, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, the UK and the USA, there are also whole Wikipedia articles about the visa requirements. There you’ll also find extra information (e.g. how long you are allowed to stay, etc.).
By the way, you may also check out the Welcoming Countries Rank 2017 where countries are ranked by how many passports they accept visa-free, with visa on arrival or with eTA.
If you own one of the travel-friendly passports, then take the chance and discover the world! 🙂
