United Arab Emirates named best passport in the world

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The United Arab Emirates ranks first in the world for mobility and freedom from travel restrictions, according to the latest release of Passport Index, a global ranking by Montreal-based citizen financial advisory firm Aton Capital.

The United Arab Emirates, a small, oil-rich Gulf emirate of about 10 million people – about 90 percent of whom are expatriates – beat countries such as Germany, Sweden, Finland and Luxembourg in the latest rankings, despite being in the top five .

Essentially, if you are a UAE passport holder, you can travel visa-free to many countries, while in many other countries you can get a visa instantly on arrival. UAE passport holders have visa-free access to 121 countries and get visa-on-arrival in an additional 59 states. They only need visas for 19 countries, which means they can enter 91% of the world’s countries without applying for a visa before travelling.

In contrast, U.S. passports allow visa-free travel to 109 countries and 56 visa-on-arrival countries, while 26 countries require Americans to apply for a visa to enter. The US passport’s “worldwide” is calculated for 83% of the world’s countries, compared to 91% for the UAE.

The UAE, a desert center for business and tourism, is home to the most headquarters of multinational corporations from Middle Eastern countries, topping the list with a “mobility score” of 180. The methodology behind the score takes into account visa-free and arrival privileges in other countries, with “the higher the mobility score, the better global mobility their passport holders enjoy,” the report said.

“The Mobility Score is the measure of a passport’s power in the Passport Index,” it added. “Passports score every country the holder can visit visa-free, visa-on-arrival, e-Visa (if used within three days) or e-Travel Authorization. Accumulate points.”

The UAE has benefited from several reforms in recent years that have attracted more people to live in the country, including the normalization of relations with Israel and the introduction of remote work visas. Its leaders have reopened or improved diplomatic relations and struck major investment and trade deals with several different countries.

Unlike many Western governments, it has not yet cut travel ties with Russia and Belarus over the Ukraine war, making it a highly desirable destination for people from those countries, especially those trying to evade sanctions. The ensuing population influx has led to a real estate boom, especially for Dubai, the UAE’s bustling business and tourist capital.

Dubai itself was recently named one of the top five cities in the world for expats to live in by online platform InterNations. Allowing more nationalities to enter with ease usually means mutual benefits for those countries.

“The UAE has become a unique crossroads,” Taufiq Rahim, a fellow at the Mohammed bin Rashid Academy of Government in Dubai, told CNBC. “It’s halfway between East and West, developed economies and developing countries, and it’s open to everyone. It’s hard for any country to compete with that kind of diverse access, so it’s not a big deal for it to be at the top of any passport index.” Strange.”

According to local media reports, the number of UAE passport holders is about 1.5 million. The UAE is also regularly ranked as one of the safest countries in the world, with an extremely low crime rate.

“Europe remains a particularly strong group, but the increase in the number of passports from Gulf countries is undeniable,” said a statement from Arton Capital. It added that the results also showed that “the stagnation in the number of some passports, such as that of the United Kingdom, is the result of domestic political choices.”

Despite war in Europe and travel disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, countries in general have actually become more enthusiastic and global mobility has increased, the report said. Changing work structures, including the rise of remote work, have helped fuel this process.

“Many are considering swapping their commutes for ‘digital nomads,’” Arton Capital wrote. “The investment these workers bring to their host countries is extremely attractive to many countries. As a result, countries across the globe, from Thailand to Estonia There has been a surge in the number of people applying ‘digital nomad’ visas.”

“While the world continues to feel the aftershocks of the pandemic, travel has surprisingly never been easier, with passport numbers growing steadily across the board, a trend we expect to continue into 2023,” the company wrote. Its methodology, Almost every passport in the world has grown stronger in its mobility.