Reach of Ukrainian passport improves by two positions on the Global Passport Index
Ukrainian citizens are getting a bit of a boost to their range of movement, thanks to improvements to their country’s visa-free agreements abroad.
As a result, their position on the Global Passport Index, created 17 years ago by Henley & Partners to measure how many visa-free destinations a particular passport holder can visit, has improved.
The latest Index also shows the largest disparity in visa-free travel between countries since its founding.
“Excluding the … constraints associated with COVID-19, passport holders of two Asian countries, Japan and Singapore, may now enter 192 destinations without a visa or with a visa upon arrival – that is 166 more than Afghanistan (26 countries), which is in the last place in the index,” said the firm.
On average, a passport holder can visit 57 countries without needing to obtain a visa in advance, according to historical data.
“Today that number has risen to 107, but behind this overall increase lies growing inequality between the countries of the Global North and the Global South. For instance, Swedish and U.S. citizens can visit more than 180 destinations without a visa, while Angola, Cameroon and Laos passport holders may only travel to 50 destinations without a visa,” the company noted.
Passports of Singapore and Japan share the first place in the Index (192 visa-free destinations), Germany and South Korea share the second place with visa-free entry to 190 countries.
Ukraine has risen from 37th to 35th place, having entered into an agreement on visa-free entry to French overseas territories and Oman. Holders of a Ukrainian passport may travel without a visa or visa upon arrival to 141 countries around the world.
Among Ukraine's neighbors in the former Soviet Union, Russia is in 46th place, Georgia 48th, Belarus 65th, and Kazakhstan 68th.
Earlier it was reported that starting from Jan. 1, 2022, Ukrainians would have to pay more to obtain a biometric passport.
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