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One of the concerns of travelers during their vacations abroad is whether they need a visa to enter certain countries and how to get it in this case. Having a passport does not always guarantee that we can set foot in another country since it depends on how many bilateral agreements the one of origin has with the one of destination. In this way, some passports will be better to see the world than others because with it, more doors are opened at airport security controls or immigration windows.
According to the update of the Passport Index prepared by the global financial advisor Arton Capital (which is in charge of advising people who want to obtain residence and citizenship permits) Singapore's passport is the most powerful in the world when it comes to traveling without the need for further paperwork. The ranking makes its classification based on the number of countries on the planet that travelers can visit without a visa.
Singapore climbed places on the list after Paraguay decided to eliminate the restrictions that until now it imposed on the residents of the Asian country. After the modification, they can now access 159 countries without a visa. But what other countries complete the top places in the ranking?
What is a passport and what is it for?
It is an official document issued by a certain country but with international validity. Its form of notebook is taken from past times in which permits were written down by hand. At present, due to the technological gap, a passport in the form of a book continues to be the most useful system, no matter how much an easy-to-read chip is added. In general terms It serves to prove that whoever carries it can enter and leave a country because they are authorized to do so or as a symbol that their country recognizes that State.
How is the list made?
To make the list, the 193 member countries of the UN are taken into account, as well as Hong Kong, Palestine, the Vatican, Macao and Taiwan.
The Singapore passport is the first time it has managed to top the list and the first time that an Asian country has achieved it. A milestone considering that they have been independent for a few decades and, unlike the countries that make up the Schengen territory, it is only Singapore that makes certain decisions without depending on a group.
Singapore could be attached to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Countries) but they prefer to stay out of it.
These are the countries that have a passport with which you have the best facilities to travel abroad:
- Singapore 159
- Alemania 158
- Sweden and South Korea 157
- Denmark, Italy, Japan, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom and Norway 156
- Luxembourg, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Austria 155
- United States, Ireland, Malaysia and Canada 154
- New Zealand, Australia and Greece 153
- Iceland, Malta and Czech Republic 152
- Hungría 150
- Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Slovenia and Slovakia 149
What criteria make a passport better or worse?
According to London-based consultancy Henley & Partners, a country's ability to obtain visa exemption is a reflection of its diplomatic relations with other countries. Likewise, visa requirements are also determined by visa reciprocity, visa risks, security risks, and violations of immigration rules.
Is it possible to buy a passport?
If possible. The company that has prepared the list helps those who want to have a second, more advantageous passport to open doors looking for countries where a passport can be obtained through investments. Of course, the amount to be invested will not be less than 2 and 15 million dollars.
Normally people from other countries who are looking for a better passport come from places that are restrictive when it comes to obtaining a visa such as the Middle East, China or Russia.
Curiosities about passports
Who Invented the Passport?
In the Bible there are writings that spoke of a document that authorized its bearer to go from one place to another but it was in Medieval Europe where documents issued by the authorities of the place began to appear that allowed people to enter the cities and by certain accesses.
However, the invention of the passport as a cross-border identity document is credited to Henry V of England.
What is the size of a passport?
Almost all passports are 125 × 88 mm in size and most have approximately 32 pages.e, dedicating only about 24 pages to visas and if the paper runs out it is necessary to request a new one.
Drawings to avoid counterfeits
In order to avoid counterfeiting, the drawings of the passport pages and the ink are complex. For example, in the case of the Spanish passport, the back cover shows Columbus's first trip to America, while the most impressive animal migrations on Earth appear on the visa pages. If we talk about Nicaragua, your passport has 89 different forms of security that make it very difficult to forge.
The best and worst passports for travel
Some countries such as Germany, Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom or the United States have very good passports to travel around the world since they can access more than 150 states. On the contrary, countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan or Somalia have the least travelers passports.