The most powerful passports in the world

I am usually curious to learn why some people from certain countries need no Visa to enter a country, and while I as Guatemalan have certain privileges in a lot of countries, I do need to apply for Visa to enter some other nations, which makes me wonder, why?

The Henley Passport Index (a ranking of all the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free), 199 countries were featured in this study.

Japan and Singapore hold the most powerful passport in the world, having access to 180 countries visa-free.

Source: https://www.henleypassportindex.com//passport

While the UK is ranked number 4, having access 1o 177 countries visa-free.

Source: https://www.henleypassportindex.com//passport

Guatemala is ranked no. 38 getting access to 123 countries without the need of a visa to enter these destinations.

Source: https://www.henleypassportindex.com//passport

Jim Rogers, an author, financial commentator, adventurer, and international investor indicates that we’re not going to have a very simple and stable world in the next 20 or 30 years, maybe even longer, and everybody should have a ‘plan B’. You have your assets in other places — many people diversify their assets — and you should diversify your living possibilities, too. You hope you never need an insurance policy, even though you have one.

But everybody in 2020, 2030, should have a ‘plan B’.

Rogers also introduces the notion that governments can promote the idea of citizenship-by-investment to their citizens by explaining that people who invest in your country create jobs and prosperity. Now, it may not be simple to explain it so that people understand it. I certainly understand that if a person invests in this country and not another country, the country that receives the investment is, in the end, going to be better off than the countries that don’t receive the investment.

According to Prof. Florian Trauner the current political climate in Europe does not seem conducive to more liberal admission and migration policies. A key reason that a majority of British citizens voted to leave the EU was to ‘take back control’ over migration. The establishment of a visa-free travel zone in the wider European region is likely to progress less and/or become more political in 2018 compared to the advances made during 2017.

When approaching immigration control, I constantly wonder why my passport, and the passports of those around me, are the colours that they are?

According to the Passport Index, the shade of each national passport is derived from just four main colours: red, green, blue or black. However, within each colour hue, we see vast variations, he explained. There are in fact many passport colours.

"Members of the European Union use burgundy, while Caricom states use blue passports," he said. Caricom, or the Caribbean Community and Common Market, includes 15 Caribbean countries and dependencies.

There may be geographical and political motives for using certain colours. "Some could argue that the burgundy red is due to a past communist history," Boghossian said. He added that blue passports were generally symbolic of the "new world" — North America, South America, Oceania, etc.

For some countries, it's about faith. "Most Islamic states use green passports because of the importance of the colour in their religion," Boghossian said. Green is thought to have been the Prophet Muhammad's favourite colour and is also "a symbol of nature and life," according to Slate's Christopher Beam, which makes the colour "a natural fit for Islam and the Middle East."

Other nations opt for styles that reflect their individual character and identity.

"Swiss passports are bright red," Boghossian offered as an example. "The passport of Turkey has changed to burgundy, in hope to join the EU."

Curiously, he noted that the US had tried numerous colours — red, green, and now blue.

Passports are also dictated by what's practical. Sometimes the colour of travel documents comes down to what's available.

Once the United Kingdom exits the European Union it will go back to having a blue passport.

Provocation: What if by 2030 travelers didn't require a Visa to travel through the physical delimitations of the countries they visit?

Resources:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/surprising-reasons-behind-the-colour-of-your-passport/

https://www.henleyglobal.com/henley-passport-index/