Visa Restrictions Index: UAE citizens are biggest gainers among those who are entitled visa-free entry
Dubai: German and British nationals have the most powerful passport in the world, while UAE citizens possess the best travel document in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to a latest ranking.
Henley & Partners has recently released the annual Visa Restrictions Index, which ranks 199 countries according to how many destinations their respective citizens can travel to without securing a visa.
Click image for passport rankings
Here's the complete list of countries
The latest study found that only passports issued by Germany and United Kingdom remain in the top spot, entitling their citizens visa-free entry into 173 countries.
Taking the second place are Finland, Sweden and the United States, with 172 destinations.
Top 5
Completing the top five are Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Republic of South Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Norway (3rd place); Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain (4th); and Austria, Ireland, Singapore and Switzerland (5th).
Eight other countries, mostly European, completed the top ten: Australia (6th), Greece and Malta (7th), Iceland and Czech Republic (8th), Malaysia and Hungary (9th) and Slovakia (10th).
Henley’s latest study also highlighted which countries have climbed in the rankings.
UAE: Biggest gainer
UAE emerged as the biggest gainer, up 15 places and adding 37 to its score. Henley & Partners attributed the dramatic climb to a new agreement with the European Union for visa-free travel to 36 countries including the 26 Schengen area states, which was announced in May this year.
The first Arab country to earn a European visa waiver, UAE entitles Emirati citizens visa-free travel to 113 countries, the highest in the Mena region.
Aside from the UAE, 21 other countries climbed the rankings: Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Dominica, Estonia, Grenada, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Samoa, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.
Here’s the complete list of countries and their respective score or number of countries their citizens can travel to visa-free.
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