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On April 5, 2022, Henley & Partners published new data on the World Passport Index. They reflect the events of the last six weeks – the ongoing special operation in Ukraine.
In response to Russia's actions, the European Union (EU), the United States, Canada, and other countries have closed their airspace to Russian air carriers, imposed strict travel bans for individual Russian citizens, and stopped processing visa applications in many cases. The Russian passport has lost its value and weight for visa-free travel.
At the same time, the EU approved an emergency plan allowing Ukrainian citizens to live in any of the 27 member states for up to three years (upon obtaining the appropriate status). Several countries have adjusted visa policies in favor of holders of Ukrainian passports. According to the latest results of the Passport Index, Ukraine has visa-free access to 143 countries in the world - this is a record figure for the country and 34th place in the ranking. At the same time, Russia ranks 49th and 117 visa-free destinations in theory.
The passports of Singapore and Japan have once again shared first place in the Index, which means that the borders of 192 countries of the world are open to citizens of these countries. Germany and South Korea share second place with visa-free access to 190 countries.
Christian Kaelin, Chairman of the Henley & Partners Group of Companies, notes: "Since the value of the Russian passport is rapidly falling, and the world is opening its doors to Ukrainians, it is quite obvious that a passport and citizenship determine life and can dramatically affect the opportunities or problems that a citizen may face in life. At the moment, it is almost impossible to predict what the world will look like in the shadow of a new cold war, but the latest results of the Index show that the gap between Russia and most of the Western world will only increase in the coming months."
Source: Henley & Partners press release.
