Pakistani Passport is the 2nd Worst in the World for Traveling

Pakistani passport with a score 29 has been ranked as the second worst in the world for international travel after Afghanistan with 25 score, says the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index 2016.

Pakistan ranks 103 of a total 104 countries and only ranks better than Afghanistan. Thus meaning that citizens of Pakistan and Afghanistan face the most amount of visa restrictions while traveling across the globe.

Germany ranked number one on the index with 177 points, while Pakistan scored 29 points. Sweden secured the second spot (176 points), followed by France, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom ranking third on the index. India ranked 85 on the list, with a score of 52, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ranked at 96 with 39 scores.

The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom that their citizens enjoy. For more than a decade, Henley & Partners has analyzed global visa regulations to present an index ranking each country and territory in the world by the number of countries that their citizens can travel to visa-free.

The index is produced in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest database of travel information, and is published annually. Countries are ranked according to the total number of other countries which they can access visa-free.

“Visa requirements are-an expression of the relationships between individual nations,” the company’s websites notes, and, “generally reflect the relations and status of a country within the international community of nations”.

Methodology

The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index was created with visa regulations effective on 1 January 2016, including any temporary visa regulations applicable on that date.

The Index contains the following assumptions:

• All passports evaluated are assumed to be biometric (ICAO 9303 compliant)

• There are 219 destination countries (territories) in total. The maximum attainable score is 218 (points are not assigned for a national traveling to their own country)

• The amount of nationalities (passports) evaluated is 199. These are the 193 Member States of the United Nations, Taiwan, Kosovo, Palestinian Territory, Vatican City, Hong Kong (SAR China), Macao (SAR China)

• E-visas are treated in the same way as visas on arrival. Where the conditions for obtaining an e-visa are straightforward (fee, return ticket, hotel reservation), a point was assigned. Where there are additional conditions (e.g. invitation letter, consular approval), a point was not assigned

• Countries that do not enforce their own visa restrictions are considered as a nationality, but not as a destination: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Palestinian Territory, San Marino, and Vatican City

• Countries that enforce their own visa restrictions but issue passports under the authority of a governing country are considered as a destination, but not as a nationality: Aruba, Anguilla, Bermuda, Bonaire and St. Eustatius and Saba, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Cook Islands, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French West Indies, Gibraltar, Guam, Mayotte, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Samoa (American), St. Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands (British), Virgin Islands (US).

You can check out the complete report here.