Henley Passport Index: Canada Outshines the US in Latest Passport Power Ranking

In a surprising turn, the latest Henley Passport Index ranks Canada’s passport as more influential than the U.S., which slipped from seventh to eighth place.

Henley & Partners has released their latest Henley Passport Index which ranks the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

According to the new rankings, there is a global power dynamics shift, with Japan knocked off the top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the first time in five years and bumped into 3rd place. Singapore has secured the top spot with visa-free access to 192 out of 227 travel destinations worldwide. Germany, Italy, and Spain follow closely in the second place, while Japan joins six other nations in the third place.

Per the new rankings, the UK has brightened its prospects after a six-year slump, leaping to fourth place – a position last held in 2017. Unfortunately, the U.S. continued its decade-long downward slide, now with visa-free access to only 184 destinations. A stark contrast to nearly a decade ago when the U.S. and UK jointly held the first place.

According to the Henley Global Mobility Report 2023 Q3, leading strategist Greg Lindsay warns that the U.S.’s continuous decline and slim chances of regaining top spot serve as a cautionary tale for Canada and others.

Annie Pforzheimer, a former U.S. Department of State diplomat and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the news release, suggests that the U.S.’s stagnant passport situation is likely to persist. This inertia is attributed to a domestic lack of drive for policy change, potential political fallout for any party or individual inadvertently aiding terrorist travel, and a thriving post-pandemic tourism industry despite a stringent visa waiver program.

With American passport holders enjoying visa-free access to 184 destinations, the U.S. only allows 44 nationalities visa-free entry, ranking it 78th on the Henley Openness Index. This stark contrast between the travel freedom U.S. citizens enjoy and the visa-free access provided to other nationalities is only exceeded by Australia and closely followed by Canada, New Zealand, and Japan.

Belarus and Uzbekistan requires U.S. citizens to have a visa for travelling, while Canadians can enter these countries without a visa for a period of up to 30 days.

Central African Republic requires Canadians to have visas, while U.S. citizens can visit without a tourist visa.

The top 20 most ‘open’ countries are primarily small island nations or African states, with Cambodia as the only exception. Countries like Burundi, Samoa, and the Seychelles offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to all global passports. In contrast, Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Turkmenistan provide no visa-free access.