Malaysian passports. Photo courtesy of the official portal of the Sarawak government
Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei hold the most powerful passports in Southeast Asia in the latest ranking released by British global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners.
With visa-free access to 195 countries and territories, Singapore holds its title of having the most powerful passport in the world and Southeast Asia, according to the Henley Global Mobility Report.
Malaysia ranked second in the region with visa-free entry to 183 destinations, followed by Brunei with 166 destinations.
Timor-Leste ranked fourth with visa-free access to 97 destinations.
Thailand, whose economy heavily depends on tourism, came in fifth in the region with its passport holders having access to 82 destinations without a visa.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, ranked sixth with access to 76 destinations without a visa.
Filipino passport holders can access 67 countries globally without a visa, putting the Philippines in seventh.
Cambodia ranked eighth in the region with visa-free access to 53 destinations, followed by Vietnam, with access to 51 destinations.
In Southeast Asia, the Vietnamese passport is more powerful than Laos (49 destinations) and Myanmar (46 destinations).
The Henley Passport Index tracks global travel freedoms in 227 countries and territories using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association.
It ranks 199 passports based on the number of destinations their holders can enter without a prior visa. Continuously updated throughout the year to reflect changes in visa policies, the index is widely recognized as a key measure of global mobility.
Comments are closed.