The US passport has become almost as “powerful” as the one in Romania, in a reference ranking. What places do the two countries occupy
American passport on a map showing southern US and part of Latin America, photo: Brian Lerich / Dreamstime.com
What makes a passport to be “strong”? Well, a clear indicator is the opening for travel – the ability to enter various destinations in the world only waving the passport, without the need for a visa, explains CNN.
Henley index of passports (Henley Passport Index), one of the reference rankings that measure the “power” of the passports from this perspective, shows for the first time in its 20 years of existence that the United States Passport has completely left the top 10.
The new quarterly report published this week shows that the United States is 12th in the standings, on a par with Malaysia. The citizens of both states enjoy visa -free access in 180 of the 227 countries and territories monitored by the index created by the London consulting company in citizenship and global residence Henley & Partners.
It uses exclusive data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and, because Henley attributes the same position to several countries with the same score, there are actually 36 states exceeding the US in the standings.
Romania is in the 13th position in the standings, immediately behind the US, with visa-free access in 179 countries. Following, in a draw, Bulgaria and Cyprus, with access in 178 countries.
Three passports of some countries in Asia now dominate the ranking: Singapore, with visa -free access in 193 destinations in the world; South Korea, with access in 190; And Japan, with 189.
A remarkable decline in US passport
In 2014, the United States ranked 1st, and in July this year they were still in the top 10. How is the new descent in the standings?
It is all due to a series of visa -free access changes. In April, Brazil withdrew visa -free access for citizens in the US, Canada and Australia, invoking the lack of reciprocity. China has introduced more friendly policies, offering visa exemptions for dozens of countries, including Romania, and rich countries in Europe. But the US is not among them.
Papua New Guinea and Myanmar also changed their entrance policies, which led to the increase of other passports and an additional decrease of the American. The final blow, according to the latest Henley report, came with the introduction of an electronic visa system (Evisa) in Somalia and the exclusion of the US from the latest Vietnam visa relief list.
“The weakening of the power of the American passport in the last decade is more than just rearrangement of the rankings. It signals a fundamental change in global mobility and in the dynamics of soft power,” said Christian H. Kaelin, President Henley & Partners, in a statement.
“The nations that adopt the opening and cooperation go ahead, while those based on the privileges of the past are left behind,” he stressed.
Top 10 Passports in the world in October 2025
- Singapore – 193 destinations;
- South Korea – 190;
- Japan – 189;
- Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland – 188;
- Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Holland – 187;
- Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden – 186;
- Australia, Czech Republic, Malta, Poland – 185;
- Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom – 184;
- Canada – 183;
- Latvia, Liechtenstein – 182.
Before the US and Malaysia in the standings are in the 11th position, in a draw, Iceland and Lithuania, with visa-free access in 181 countries.
Photo article: Brian Lerich / Dreamstime.com (edited).
