In news– Henley Passport Index-2022 was released recently.
About Henley Passport Index (HPI)-
- It is a ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
- Henley & Partners firm’s “Henley Passport Index” has been regularly monitoring the world’s most travel-friendly passports since 2006.
- HPI rankings are based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA).
- The index includes passports from 199 countries and 227 different travel destinations
- Index ranked Japan and Singapore as number one for the first quarter of 2022.
- The second place on the passport index was acquired by Germany and South Korea.
- Spain, Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg were given the third position in terms of the most powerful passports.
- India was ranked 83rd in the index, it was ranked 90th in 2021.
- India is behind Rwanda and Uganda, and jointly shares the position with the African island nation, Sao Tome and Principe.
- Indian passport holders can now visit 60 countries without a prior visa.
- Some of the countries where Indian passport holders can get Visa On Arrival (VOA) are Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Iran, Armenia, Jordan, Albania, Serbia, Trinidad and Tobago, British Virgin Islands, Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand, Bolivia, Mauritius, and Ethiopia.
- Japanese, Finnish, and Irish passport holders can visit more than 180 destinations without a visa, whereas citizens of Vietnam, Chad, and Egypt can visit only about 50 countries.
- The index ranked the Pakistani passport as the fourth worst for international travel for the third consecutive year and placed it on the 108th position.
- It has placed Afghanistan at the bottom of the index of 199 passports, though it can access just 26 countries without requiring a visa in advance.
Source: Times of India
