New research has uncovered which passport gives its holder the most freedom, just in case your clients are looking to expand their travel horizons through marriage.
According to research conducted by offshore consulting firm Nomad Capitalist, Swedish, Luxembourgish and Irish passports are the best ones to own.
The research was conducted by scoring 199 different passports in five categories. Each passport was scored on visa-free travel, international taxation laws, global perception, dual citizenship and personal freedom.
This year, it was a three-way tie with Sweden, Luxembourg and Ireland all scoring 114 points.
Sweden, which ranked second on the index last year, has climbed its way to the very top thanks to visa-free travel to 186 countries, high levels of personal freedom and an excellent global reputation.
Luxembourg has maintained its place at the top of this list for the third year in a row, having climbed its way up from tenth place just three years ago. The country grants its citizens high levels of freedom, has an excellent global perception and fortunately for ex-pats living there, it recently became easier to become a citizen.
The Irish passport also came out on top thanks to having one of Europe’s lowest corporate tax rates, high visa scores and an excellent global reputation.
Here’s the top 10m according to Nomad Capitalist:
- Sweden
- Luxembourg
- Ireland
- Switzerland
- Belgium
- Finland
- Portugal
- Singapore
- Czech Republic
- Malta
Unfortunately, Australian passports ranked 32nd (tied with Estonia and Monaco), scoring 107.50 points.
Despite scoring high on visa-free travel, international taxation laws, global perception and dual citizenship, it was our personal freedom score that marked us down, based on data and news reports on mandatory military service, government surveillance, press freedom, and other factors to determine personal freedom of citizens, travellers, and ex-pats.
According to the research, the worst passport to own is the Afghan passport.
This passport only allows entry into 26 countries visa-free, its citizens are often refused entry to a substantial number of countries and also encounter substantial hostility, its citizens are strictly forbidden to hold other citizenships and they also experience less freedom.
Iraq is second-worst, with travel permitted to 28 countries, low perception from other countries and low levels of freedom and Yemen is third from the bottom.
