A summary of the 2016 Visa Restrictions Index

The annual 2016 Visa Restrictions Index was published yesterday by Henley & Partners, a global leader in citizenship and residence planning, in collaboration with the IATA (International Air Transport Association). This survey ranks countries as per the number of countries that their citizens can travel to. Not all countries are the same. For example, visa free travel to Portugal ranks higher than visa free travel to Burundi (in Central Africa). This year’s index saw a lot of movement, with only 21 countries listed in the same place as last year’s Index, out of 199 countries ranked. Plus, visa free access is seeing an upward trend, especially in the travel industry.

Germany, again, topped the list, which would make it the apex country since 2014, as those holding its passports can access 2017 countries, visa-free. The Nordic country of Sweden came in second for the third time in a row, giving access to 176 countries without a visa.

The United Kingdom, which imparted the top spot a year ago to Germany, slipped to third, as those holding a UK travel permit can get to travel to 175 nations or regions without requiring a visa. It imparts the third positioning to Spain, Finland, Italy and France. Belgium, The Netherlands, the United States and Denmark, came in fourth on the Index, as its travel permit holders can get to 174 nations or regions without requiring a visa.

Singapore is at fifth position in this year visa restrictions index, sharing stage with Japan and Austria. All things considered, Singapore and Japan are the most noteworthy positioning Asian countries on the travel file. South Korea came in 6th on the 2016 list with sans visa access to 172 nations or domains. It was third on the file in 2015.

The quantity of nations in the ‘Main 10’ stayed static in the current year’s Index at 28 nations, with Hungary joining the classification following one year of being pushed out, and Malaysia dropping to twelfth position following three years in the head bunch.

The developing significance of investment immigration can be found in the consistent development of the nations which offer living arrangement and citizenship-by-investment programs. These nations keep on performing unequivocally and are all included in the main 30 of the Index.

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