The Henley Visa Restrictions Index
In today’s globalized world, visa restrictions play an important
role in controlling the movement of foreign nationals across
borders. Almost all countries now require visas from certain
non-nationals who wish to enter their territory. Visa requirements
are also an expression of the relationships between individual
nations, and generally reflect the relations and status of a
country within the international community of nations.
Henley & Partners, a firm specialized in international
immigration, consular and citizenship law has analyzed the visa
regulations of practically all countries and territories in the
world. Henley has recently updated their index, which ranks
countries according to the visa-free access to other countries its
citizens enjoy (an index score of 157 means that a citizen of
Denmark, for example, may enter 157 countries and territories
without a visa). This global ranking shows the international travel
freedom of the citizens of the various countries as well as the
international relations and status of individual countries relative
to others.
The top rank is held by Denmark with a score of 157, an increase
of 30 since the 2006 assessment. Denmark is followed by Finland (-1
position since 2006), Ireland and Portugal (+5) scoring 156 each.
The third position is shared by Belgium (+1), Germany (-1), Sweden
(-1) and the United States (-2), each with a score of 155. The
fourth position is shared by Canada (+2), Italy (-1), Japan (-1),
Luxembourg (+2), the Netherlands (+1) and Spain sharing a score of
154. Austria (+1) and Norway (-1) share the fifth position (153),
with France (-3) and the United Kingdom (-3) following. Australia
has moved two places to the seventh position, ahead of New Zealand
(-2) and Singapore. Greece and Switzerland (-5)
occupy the ninth slot with a score of 149, and Iceland (-1) rounds
out the top ten with a score of 146.
Further down the scale one will find Turkey (42nd), Russia
(53rd), Saudi Arabia (65th), and China (79th). Not surprisingly,
Myanmar, Sudan, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan hold the bottom five
positions, i.e. their citizens have the least travel freedom.
http://www.henleyglobal.com/fileadmin/pdfs/content/HVRI2009_GlobalRanking.pdf
