3 Asian countries ranked world's most powerful passports, UK and US slips to sixth spot

Japan has yet again retained its top spot as the world’s most powerful passport in 2019. For the second time in a row, Japan possesses the most travel-friendly passport, while its citizens enjoy access to around 190 countries.

Most of the times, it is because of your passport that you cannot visit a country of you preference. Though it might be difficult to believe this, it is one of the several factors that should be considered while planning a trip to another country.
As per the recent findings of a passport index listing by Hanley & Partners, the three most powerful passports at present are those of Japan, Singapore and South Korea. This latest ranking marks an 18-month long winning streak for both the Japan and Singapore, after they pushed Germany from its long-held first position. It also means that those holding a passport from any of these nations will enjoy the freedom of entering more countries without visas. South Korea is now sitting in the second position along with Germany and France, and the citizens of these countries will be able to travel across 187 destinations around the globe without acquiring a prior visa.

Finland upped its position from third to second spot after Pakistan recently changed their highly restrictive visa policy. Pakistan in a move to boost tourism in the country is now offering as Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) to citizens of around 50 countries, which includes Finland, Malta, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. However, this concessions does not extend to either the United States of America or the United Kingdom. An interesting point to note here is that all the three Asian countries are sharing the first rank jointly as per the Hanley & Partners index. Citizens of these countries can now enjoy visa-free access across 189 countries. With a visa-on-arrival/visa-free score of 183, the United States of America ranked sixth alongside the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, and Portugal.

These passport rankings, however, keep changing from year to year. And considering the fact that most countries now offer visa-free travel, the rankings are tweaked almost every quarter.