New Delhi: India has improved its position Passport It climbed seven places to 83rd place from 90th last year as it now has access to 59 countries that do not require prior visas.
Oman is the latest destination Indian passport holders can now travel without obtaining a visa, compared to 58 visa-free access destinations in the fourth quarter of 2021. India has risen seven places in the rankings to rise higher on the index, which has created new ties or places now held jointly by other nations that rank above it.
When two two-ranked countries become two-ranked countries, the result is that everyone below them moves up the rank. In practice, nothing really improved in terms of visa-free access to Turkey, for example, but it did improve its ranking – it’s just a result of how the ranking ties in, driven by IATA data. behaves.
Over 12.8 million passports were issued in 2019 by Passport Issuing Authorities (PIAs) in India and abroad, making India the third largest passport issuer globally after China and the United States.
According to historical data from the Henley Passport Index, which ranks all passports in the world by the number of destinations their holders can reach without prior visas and is based on exclusive data. International Air Transport Association (IATA), a person can, on average, travel to 57 countries in 2006 visa-free. Today, that number has risen to 107, but this overall increase hides a growing disparity between countries in the global north and countries in the global south, with citizens of countries such as Sweden and the US able to travel visa-free to more than 180 destinations. Huh. , while passport holders from Angola, Cameroon and Laos can only enter about 50.
Japan and Singapore most powerful passports
The results showed record-breaking levels of travel freedom for the top-ranked countries, Japan and Singapore. Without taking into account the temporary Covid-related restrictions, passport holders from the two Asian countries can now enter 192 destinations around the world visa-free – 166 more than Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the index.
COVID-19 exacerbates inequality in global mobility
Germany and South Korea are joint second in the latest ranking, with passport holders able to access 190 destinations visa-free, while Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain are in third place with a score of 189. The passport has regained some of its previous strength after falling to 8th place in the US and UK 2020 – the lowest rank of any country in the index’s 17-year history. Both countries are now ranked sixth with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 186.
The UAE continues its upward move on the Henley Passport Index, having recently practically restored its historic US-broker agreement with Israel, which has been suspended for much of the pandemic. It is now ranked 15th in the ranking, the highest position ever achieved for the Arab nation in the entire index’s history, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 175.
“The limits within which we are born, and the documents we are entitled to keep, are no less arbitrary than the color of our skin. To help prosperous states redistribute and rebalance human and material resources around the world There is a need to encourage positive inward migration.” Dr. Christian H. Keelin, President of Henley & Partners.
geopolitical failure
Commenting on the pandemic’s impact on broader geopolitical trends in migration and mobility, Misha Glenny, award-winning journalist and associate professor at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, said: omicron Points to a major geopolitical failure. If the US, UK and EU had sent more money and vaccines to southern Africa, such a strong new strain would be much less likely to emerge. Until we share the distribution of vaccines more equitably, new mutations will have the potential to send us all back to square one. ,
golden visa
Against this backdrop of growing inequality, high-net-worth investors and entrepreneurs are looking to build portfolios of complementary citizenship and residency options in many jurisdictions through investment migration programs, where they and their families can comfortably afford health security and access to optionality. Live, trade, study, and invest. So naturally, countries offering residency and citizenship by investment programs continue to perform strongly on the Henley Passport Index, with Dominica’s recent visa waiver agreement being a prime example of that success. The chaos of the pandemic has emphasized the appeal of investment migration programs for states that are able to offer them, as well as for international investors.
“Many investment migration programs include the option to invest in real estate in exchange for residency or citizenship. Investors receive a larger property with increased value as well as the ability to live in a new country and move around more freely. – something that can be extremely valuable in times of unrest. During the current economic crisis, countries with established programs have benefited from alternative revenue streams. Clearly, governments that want to allow foreign investors to settle easily adjust their policies, they will win the competitive race for both revenue and talent in 2022,” said Henley & Partners CEO Dr. Jurge Stefan said.
Have Indians chosen this golden visa?
There was a 21% increase in Indian citizens receiving investment migration programs through Henley & Partners between 2019 and 2020. This jumped significantly in 2021, with just over 200% increase in the number of Indian nationals who opted for the golden visa in comparison. The growth between 2019 and 2021 will be 264 percent compared to the pre-pandemic sales figures of 2020.
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