New Zealand’s passport has been ranked among the most powerful in the world, giving Kiwis visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 destinations.
The NZ passport comes out ahead of Australia and Canada, and well above the United States and United Kingdom.
The latest Henley Passport Index ranks New Zealand alongside Greece, Portugal, and Sweden in sixth place, up slightly from previous years.
Australia sits one tier lower with 185 visa-free destinations, while Canada ranks ninth, and the United States has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in two decades, now tied for 12th with Malaysia.
Among the Five Eyes intelligence partners – New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States – New Zealand now holds the strongest passport. Analysts say the rankings reflect the country’s reputation for openness and trust, and the absence of restrictive travel or visa policies.
By comparison, the United States’ steep decline reflects a more inward-looking approach, with fewer reciprocal visa arrangements and what Henley & Partners described as a “loss of passport power.” The UK’s ranking has also slipped in recent years following changes to European travel rules.
For New Zealanders, the ranking confirms one of the country’s quiet global advantages: a passport that allows easy access to much of the world without the bureaucracy faced by larger nations.
Read more over at MSN
The Centrist is a new online news platform that strives to provide a balance to the public debate - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
This is the dumbest thing I’ve read in a long time. It means nothing at all.
This is great news. I now have easier access to more countries than anyone else when l eneverbly decide I can't live here anymore.
Oh joy, nz has a good passport.
Australian median income $82,049
US median income $145,544
NZ median income $49,868.
Thanks Nicola Willis for doing nothing to improve wages and lower Kiwis costs.
Whilst it appears Luxon, Bishop, Brown, and Stanford entered politics to simply stand by and watch Willis rob kiwi battlers blind!.
The NZ dollar is very weak right now. That depresses the median income which is here expressed in US dollar terms. Should the NZD strengthen, that would raise the median income as here reported but hardly affect the cost of living at all. So the above comparison is just a wee bit artificial and misleading.
The UK Telegraph has taken to publishing articles on the best destinations for UK citizens wanting to emigrate and how those who’ve already left are finding life in their new countries. Are any of our media publishing such useful info? Where can our wonderful passports take us on a permanent basis? If nothing else it would make a welcome change from housing market articles. Or perhaps the two go side by side: “What you need to know to sell up and go”. I wonder, did National’s economic growth plan always include growing the export of New Zealanders? Seems to be a winner for them.
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