2023-08-15 07:18:24
Long-distance travel freedom of travel
The German passport is one of the best in the world
If you have a German passport, you can travel almost anywhere in the world without a visa. In a current ranking that compares the freedom to travel internationally, Germany moved up to second place. A privilege denied to the citizens of many other countries.
Status: 15.08.2023 | Reading time: 3 minutes
With a German passport you can enter 190 countries without a visa
Quelle: picture alliance/CHROMORANGE/Michael Bihlmayer
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As a rule, nobody chooses their citizenship. Instead, you come into the world without being asked and only realize afterwards whether you were lucky or unlucky. For example, everyone who likes to travel and has a German passport is lucky. You enjoy almost unlimited freedom to travel. A privilege denied to many people in this world.
Passports have always been used to control the freedom of movement of populations. Regardless of the form of government, rulers always wanted to know who was entering their soil. It used to be letters of safe conduct with a seal, today it’s passports in the standardized format of 125 by 88 millimeters with biometric photos, holograms and microchips that allow the owner to pass “passeport”, which in French means the gate (today the border).
In the current passport ranking by the consulting firm Henley & Partners, the Federal Republic of Germany has managed to work its way up to second place. This means that German citizens as well as Italians and Spaniards can visit 190 countries without a visa. Only Singapore is better off with 192 nations.
The Henley Index, which is created in cooperation with the international aviation association IATA, lists a total of 104 countries. Also counted as “visa-free” were all nations that automatically grant travelers an ad hoc visa (visa on arrival) upon arrival, such as Egypt, or electronic travel authorizations in advance, such as ESTA for the USA.
Germans need a visa in 36 countries
What freedom of travel means can be measured well by the fact that only 27 countries allow Afghan nationals to enter the country without a visa. This puts Afghanistan at the bottom of the ranking. While the passports of Syria, Iraq, Pakistan or Yemen also perform poorly, the citizens of Western Europe have no entry problems, with the exception of Kosovo. Only 42 states grant the politically explosive mini-country in the Balkans visa-free travel.
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But even if you can be admitted almost everywhere with a German passport, according to Henley & Partners, there are 36 countries that still insist on annoying visas. In the best case, this means being able to apply for an e-visa online. But it can also mean going to the embassy or consulate in person, applying for a visa, paying fees and waiting – just like when traveling to China.
Most of the visa-requiring countries are in Africa. These are often countries in which holidaymakers rarely want to relax, but rather problem areas such as Mali, Niger, Chad or Eritrea. Due to war or civil war, the visa countries Russia, Syria, Yemen and Myanmar are currently not available. All nations steeped in history that once attracted hordes of cultural travelers.
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While Germans have been almost unfamiliar with the question “Do I need a visa?” for many years, the countries that have managed to gain greater acceptance in the last decade deserve respect. Ten years ago, residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could only travel to 72 countries without first having to apply for entry. In the meantime, however, 178 countries are open to UAE citizens without any problems. That’s a record improvement of 106 countries!
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With a Colombian passport, you can also get to 133 countries today without any bureaucratic effort, ten years ago there were only 63 nations. The major countries in Europe that have made great strides in terms of freedom to travel really deserve it. Ukraine has gone from 77 to 144 visa-free countries in ten years. And the small Moldova, also constantly threatened by Russia, improved from 59 to 120 states that no longer require visas.
You can find the complete one here Passport Ranking the consulting firm Henley & Partners.
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