ABU DHABI // The UAE passport is the highest-ranked among GCC countries, allowing Emiratis visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 120 countries.
The index, compiled by the financial advisory company Arton Capital, ranked passports based on the number of countries citizens can visit without having to obtain a visa.
This year’s index placed the UAE passport at 60 in the list, with Emiratis eligible for visa-free entry to 80 countries and visas on arrival at 40 more.
The passport’s power was boosted by last year’s Schengen visa waiver, which allowed Emiratis to travel freely between 26 European countries.
The next GCC country on the list is Kuwait, ranked at 92, with visa-free access to 42 countries and visa on arrival at 38 more.
Qatar is ranked 97 followed by Bahrain at 102 and Saudi Arabia at 107.
The German passport was the most powerful, with visa-free access to 157 countries, followed by Sweden, Finland, Italy and Switzerland.
The UK passport ranked eighth, with a visa-free score of 156, and the US passport was at 18, with a score of 154.
The highest ranked non--European passport was South Korea, ranked third, with a -visa-free score of 155, followed by Singapore, Japan and -Malaysia.
The index compared passports from 199 countries, including non-United Nation states such as Taiwan, Kosovo, Palestine and the Vatican.
The index rated the power of each passport on the holder’s identity, opportunity, mobility and overall quality of life.
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