Pakistani passport ranked fourth worst passport for international travel

Pakistanis have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 31 countries around the world

  

The Pakistani passport has been ranked as the fourth worst passport for international travel for the third consecutive year, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 31 countries around the world, according to the Henley Passport Index 2022.

The Henley Passport Index, which is a ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, placed Pakistan on the 108th position. Henley & Partners firm’s “Henley Passport Index” has been regularly monitoring the world's most travel-friendly passports since 2006. Only Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia has worst passport than Pakistan 

The Prime Minister Imran Khan promised to make Pakistani passport as one of the most respected globally. But on the contrary, no improvement has been made in last three years. PM Imran Khan announced that people will feel proud to hold Pakistani passport in their hands as Pakistan will become stronger and powerful under his government. 

The increasing travel barriers that have been introduced over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in the widest global mobility gap in the index's 16-year history, said the report. 

The index doesn't take temporary restrictions into account, so leaving actual current travel access aside, holders of the passports at the top of its ranking -- Japan and Singapore -- are able, in theory, to travel visa-free to 192 destinations.

That's 166 more destinations than Afghan nationals, who sit at the bottom of the index of 199 passports, and can access just 26 countries without requiring a visa in advance.

Further down the top 10, the rankings remain virtually unchanged as we enter the first quarter of 2022. South Korea is tied with Germany in second place (with a score of 190) and Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain are all together in third place (with a score of 189).

EU countries dominate the top of the list as usual, with France, Netherlands and Sweden climbing one spot to join Austria and Denmark in fourth place (with a score of 188). Ireland and Portugal are in fifth place (with a score of 187). The United States and the United Kingdom, which held the top spot together back in 2014, have regained a little ground.

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