NEW DELHI: India has its. improved passport Power for 2022 and climbed seven places from 90th the previous year to 83rd as it now has access to 60 countries that do not require a prior visa.
Oman and Armenia are the newest travel destinations for Indian passport holders to visit now without a visa, compared to just 58 visa-free travel destinations in the fourth quarter of 2021. India is up seven places in the ranking due to changes in visa access higher up the index who has created new connections or places that are now held in common by other nations above him.
When two countries that occupy two places in the ranking become two countries that occupy one place, it will cause each one of them to rise in rank. In practical terms, for example, Turkey hasn’t really improved on visa-free access, but it has improved its ranking – it’s just a result of how the IATA data-based ranking handles connections.
Over 12.8 million passports were issued by the Passport Issuing Authorities (PIA) in India and abroad in 2019, making India the third largest passport issuer in the world after China and the United States.
According to historical data from the Henley Passport Index, which sorts all passports in the world by the number of travel destinations that their holders can access without a prior visa and based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) a person could visit 57 countries on average in 2006 without a visa. Today that number has risen to 107, but that total increase obscures a growing discrepancy between countries in the Global North and those in the Global South, with nationals from countries like Sweden and the US being able to visit more than 180 travel destinations without a visa, while passport holders from Angola, Cameroon and Laos only about 50 can enter.
Japan and Singapore most powerful passes
The results show record freedom of travel for the top nations Japan and Singapore. Without taking into account temporary Covid-related restrictions, passport holders of the two Asian nations can now travel visa-free to 192 destinations worldwide – 166 more than Afghanistan, which ranks at the lower end of the index.
Covid-19 exacerbates inequality in global mobility
Germany and South Korea jointly occupy second place in the most recent ranking, with passport holders able to enter 190 visa-free travel destinations, while Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain share third place with 189 points. The US and UK passports have regained some of their former strength after falling back to 8th place in 2020 – the lowest place either country has risen to in the index’s 17-year history. Both countries now occupy the 6th
The UAE continues its upward trend in the Henley Passport Index after recently virtually reinstating its groundbreaking US-brokered agreement with Israel, which was suspended during most of the pandemic. It now ranks 15th on the rankings, the highest position the Arab nation has achieved in the history of the index, with a score of 175 for visa waiver / visa on arrival.
“The boundaries within which we were born and the documents we are allowed to own are no less arbitrary than the color of our skin. Wealthier states need to encourage positive immigration to support the redistribution and balance of human and material resources around the world, ”said Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners.
Geopolitical failure
Commenting on the impact of the pandemic on broader geopolitical trends in migration and mobility, Misha Glenny, award-winning journalist and associate professor at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, said: Omicron indicates a major geopolitical failure. Had the US, UK and EU diverted more money and vaccines to southern Africa, the chances of such a robust new strain emerging would have been much less. Until we distribute the vaccine distribution more fairly, new mutations will bring us all back to the point. ”
Golden Visa
In this context of rising inequality, high net worth investors and entrepreneurs are seeking through investment migration programs to create portfolios with complementary citizenship and residency options in multiple jurisdictions in order to gain access to health security and choices about where they and their families can conveniently live , Do business, study and invest. Of course, countries that offer residency and citizenship through investment programs continue to do high on the Henley Passport Index, with Dominica’s recent visa waiver agreement being a prime example of that success. The chaos of the pandemic has underscored the attractiveness of investment migration programs for those states that can offer them, as well as for international investors.
“Many investment migration programs include the option to invest in real estate in exchange for residency or citizenship. Investors acquire significant wealth with the potential for appreciation, as well as the opportunity to live and move around in a new country – something that can be extremely valuable in turbulent times. During the current economic crisis, countries with established programs have benefited from the alternative source of income. Of course, governments that adjust their policies so that foreign investors can easily settle down will win the competition for both sales and talent in 2022, “said Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners.
