The Best Passports in the World

See where the U.S. ranks in this list of countries with the most visa-free access around the world.

After two years of little or no travel, Americans are ready to get back out and explore the world.

An April survey by insurer International Medical Group said that 96% of respondents plan to travel internationally in 2022, an 11% increase over pre-pandemic travel levels.

In 2014, a U.S. passport was the best passport to have in the world: Americans had more visa-free destinations available to them than passport holders in any other country, along with Finland, Germany, Sweden and the U.K. By October of 2020, amid the covid-19 pandemic and other international events, only about 54 countries allowed American citizens to travel visa-free to their country.

The power of a passport lies in how it withstands global crisis, according to Arton Capital, a global citizenship financial advisory services firm based in Montreal, Canada that ranks passports. This was never more clear than during the pandemic when nations like Germany, Spain, South Korea, Switzerland, Japan, and New Zealand all continued to maintain their passport strength.

This year, Japan and Singapore hold the top spot in the Henley Passport Index, with visa-free access to 190 countries. Eighteen other countries’ passports also have more access than a U.S. passport.

For example, Americans need a visa to travel to Russia, China, and Venezuela and several other places, but Japanese citizens can travel to China or Venezuela visa-free.

The Henley Passport Index ranks all of the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The index covers 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.

Henley & Partners, a global adviser of citizenship planning for internationally mobile entrepreneurs and investors, uses data from the International Air Transport Authority to compile the index.

The biggest climber in the ranking this year is the United Arab Emirates, which has moved up 49 spots from No. 64 in 2012 to No. 15 in 2022. Others are Colombia, Timor-Leste, China, Ukraine, Georgia, Peru and Dominica.

Based on the Henley Passport Index, these are the strongest passports in the world.