Taiwan passport 33rd most powerful in the world: survey

ROC Central News Agency

07/08/2020 09:24 PM

Taipei, July 8 (CNA) Taiwan's passport has been ranked the 33rd most powerful globally, as it allows visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 146 destinations around the world, according to a survey released Tuesday by the London-based citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners.

In the third quarter of 2020, however, Taiwan has dropped one notch in the rankings from the previous quarter, according to the Henley Passport Index, which ranks of all the world's passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

Japan's passport maintains the top spot in the rankings, as its holders can travel visa-free to 191 countries, followed by the Singaporean passport, which allows visa-free entry to 190 destinations, and South Korea and Germany tied in third place (189).

The standard ranking does not take into account temporary bans, Henley & Partners said in the statement, noting that the European Union last week listed 14 countries whose residents would be allowed entry into the bloc from July 1, after months of an external border closure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japan and South Korea made the list, as they meet the European Union (EU) coronavirus-related health and safety criteria, as did Australia and Canada, which are tied at ninth place on the Henley Passport Index, according to the statement.

Despite Singapore's second place ranking on the Henley Passport Index, its exclusion from the EU list means that its passport holders currently have much less travel freedom than the other three top ranked countries -- Japan, South Korea and Germany -- Henley & Partners said.

Similarly, although the United States ranks seventh on the index, its citizens currently have the same freedom of travel in the EU as Mexico and Uruguay passport holders, two countries that are 25th and 28th, respectively, on the Henley Passport Index, according to the statement.

(By Evelyn Kao)

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