ANYONE WHO has stood in a long queue at border control, or bypassed one, knows that not all passports are created equal. Citizens of some countries can speed through the gates; citizens of others must submit to interrogation and delay. Henley & Partners, a consultancy that helps rich people acquire citizenship in attractive countries, ranks passports by the number of countries their holders can enter without a visa. Its latest assessment of passport power shows that America is sliding down the table.
Our map below shows how countries compare this year.
Asian countries dominate the top of the table. Singapore leads for a fourth consecutive year, with visa-free access to 193 of 227 destinations. South Korea (190) and Japan (189) follow. Seven members of the European Union share the fifth tier, each with access to 187 countries. At the bottom, people from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq can travel visa-free to only 24, 26 and 29 places, respectively.
America, which topped the index in 2014, has dropped out of the top ten for the first time since the ranking began in 2006. It now shares the 12th tier of passports with Malaysia; citizens of both countries can travel visa-free to 180 destinations. Britain, which held the top spot in 2015, has fallen to eighth. These declines are largely due to reciprocity: when rich countries tighten their travel rules they constrain the mobility of their own citizens because others respond in kind.
America, with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan, are the rich countries that offer visa-free access to the fewest passports. Perhaps for that reason, the passport power of all five has stagnated or fallen over the past decade (though leaving them in relatively strong positions). China’s, by contrast, has risen sharply, climbing from the 94th tier of passports in 2015 to 64th this year. China now allows visa-free access to people from 30 more countries than does America, although some of these are countries that Western governments shun, such as Russia.
Despite the diminishing power of their passports, Americans can still travel pretty freely. Even so, they are increasingly eager to acquire other passports, sometimes through “golden-visa” or “golden passport” schemes that grant residency or citizenship in exchange for a hefty investment. Henley says Americans now make up the bulk of their clients, more than the next four nationalities—Turkish, Indian, Chinese and British—combined. By the end of September applications from Americans were already 67% higher than the total for 2024, which was itself 60% higher than the year before. European and Caribbean passports are at the top of Americans’ citizenship-shopping list, and there is growing interest in New Zealand. An extra passport has become a luxury good for the footloose and wealthy.■