Americans may feel that their passport is all they need to go anywhere around the world, and they’re not the only ones that share that feeling, but in reality not all passports are created equal.
Henley & Partners, a British immigration and citizenship firm, released their latest Visa Restrictions Index, which for several years now has analyzed global visa regulations around the world to present a ranking of which countries have the easiest visa-free travel benefits.
So where does the US sit? And how about Germany?
Well for all of us Americans who feel our passports reign supreme, it is actually Germany at the top with visa-free travel to 177 countries.
Surely the US is right behind Germany then right? Nope. American passport holders move behind Sweden, Finland, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Since those last five were all tied for third place, the US is technically in 4th place with 174 visa-free destinations.
Coming in at 4th place isn’t terrible by any means, but last years study had the American passport ranking second behind Germany. In 2014 the US ranked number one.
And who’s on the bottom of the list? Libya, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan unsurprisingly fall to the end of the line.
