Tuesday, March 26 2019 17:18

ArmInfo. Armenia occupied the 78th position in the ranking of countries with the most "powerful" passports, compiled by the Swiss Henley & Partners company. 

According to the information published on the Henley & Partners  website, Armenia has improved its position by two points compared to  last year. Armenian citizens can visit 62 countries without a visa.

To note, the first position in the ranking was taken by Japan.  Holders of a Japanese passport can visit 190 countries without  needing to get an entry visa.

The second place was shared by Singapore and South Korea, whose  residents have the right of visa-free entry to 189 countries. The top  three are France and Germany, with an indicator of 188 countries  each.

Next in the ranking are Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Italy (187),  Luxembourg and Spain (186), Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and  Portugal (185). Following them are Australia, Iceland and New  Zealand, whose citizens can visit 181 states and territories without  visas.

Armenia's partners in the EAEU Russia takes the 47th place, setting a  visa-free regime with 118 countries of the world, Belarus - 64th  place (77 countries), Kazakhstan - 65th place (76 countries).

Neighboring Azerbaijan occupies the 73rd place. Azerbaijanis can  visit 67 countries without visas, and Georgia - 49th place (119  countries).

The most modest possibilities for visa-free entry are holders of  foreign passports of Pakistan (33), Somalia and Syria (32), as well  as Afghanistan and Iraq (30).

The Henley & Partners Passport Index is an international ranking of  countries in terms of freedom of movement that they provide to their  citizens. Henley & Partners has thoroughly studied the visa  regulations of all countries and territories and compiled a ranking  of countries of the world in terms of freedom of movement, i.e. the  number of other countries that citizens of a specified country can  visit without a visa.  The passport index is the first in the history  of the international rating of countries on the freedom of movement  of citizens, reflecting international relations and the status of  countries on the world stage. Since 2018, the Passport Index is  updated several times a year in order to promptly inform about  changes in the visa-free regime of countries.

For the first time in 2019, the Henley & Partners Global Mobility  Report was published with the Passport Index. The report  international experts talk about migration trends in different  regions of the world. Much attention is paid to the "openness" and  "closedness" of different countries, and the impact of this on their  economic development. The report also considers trends in obtaining  citizenship through investments as an option to increase mobility.