Singapore’s passport becomes world’s most powerful ID

The Passport Index said that the Passport of Singapore became the most powerful in the world after Paraguay recently decided to waive visa requirements for passport holders of this Asian island country.

Arton Capital, one of the leading financial advisory firms in the world, developed this Passport Index, which is an online interactive tool, available freely, that determines strengths of passports of countries across the world, by taking into consideration their cross-border access.

With a Singaporean Passport, people can now travel easily to 159 countries though visa on arrival or without a visa.

According to CNN, before Paraguay took the decision to remove visa restrictions for this city-state, Singapore was tied with Germany for the number one spot on the Index, with a passport score of 158.

Philippe May, managing director of Arton Capital in Singapore office, said in a statement that this was the first time that a country from Asia has the world’s most powerful passport.

He credited it to the country’s potent foreign policy and inclusive diplomatic ties. Other Asian countries whose passports rank in the top 20 are Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

The statement of the Passport Index said that the US Passport, on the other hand, had lost its lustre since Donald Trump took over as its President and added that the visa-free status to passport holders of the US was recently revoked by Turkey and the Central African Republic.

By assessing the access passports of nations have to countries all over the world, a visa-free score is assigned by the Passport Index. With a visa-free score, one can determine the number of countries passport holders travel to with a visa on arrival or visa-free.

Considered for the passport index are passports of 193 member countries of the United Nations and six territories of Macao (SAR China), Hong Kong (SAR China), ROC Taiwan, Palestinian Territory, Kosovo and the Vatican. Territories invaded by other countries, however, are not included.

While the Passport score of Singapore is 159, Germany’s is 158, while Sweden and South Korea jointly have the third-most powerful passports in the world.

Afghanistan the dubious reputation of having the weakest passport of the world, Pakistan and Iraq have the second-least powerful passports, followed by Syria and Somalia, which too rank in the bottom four weakest passports of the world.

Armand Arton, the founder and president of Arton Capital, said at Global Citizen Forum, which was recently held in Montenegro, that visa-free mobility across the world has become a crucial factor in the world today.

He added that every year, increasing number of people invest thousands of dollars to obtain a second passport, which is a route to more opportunities and improved security for their families.

If you are looking to Travel Abroad for Work or leisure, get in touch with Y-Axis, a popular consultancy for immigration services, to apply for a visa.