Russian tourists can visit 115 countries without visas in 2023
MOSCOW. July 19 (Interfax) - Russia has entered the top 50 countries with the strongest passports: its citizens can visit 115 countries without visas or by getting visas on arrival, according to the updated rating of national passports by the Henley & Partners company.
The rating is topped by Singapore, whose citizens can visit 192 countries without a visa. Second place is shared by Germany, Italy, and Spain, citizens of these countries can visit 190 countries. In third place are Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden (189 countries). The top five also included Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (188 countries) and Belgium, the Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland (187 countries).
Australia, Hungary, and Poland are ranked sixth, with citizens of these countries being able to travel to 186 countries without visas. Canada and Greece are in seventh place, from where it is possible to travel to 185 countries.
The United States and Lithuania are ranked eighth (184 countries), followed by Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia (183). Estonia and Iceland closed the top ten, as citizens of these countries can travel to 182 countries without visas.
Russia is ranked 49th on this rating. Russian citizens do not need to apply for visas in advance to travel to the countries of Oceania (Fiji, Marshall Islands, Micronesia), a number of countries of the Middle East (Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey), Asia, most of the Caribbean countries (Cuba, the Dominican Republic), South America and Africa. Additionally, Russians can travel without visas to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
Russians will need a visa upon arrival in 29 countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Maldives, Indonesia, and others.
The last country on the rating is Afghanistan: Afghan citizens can visit only 27 countries without a visa. Iraq (29) and Syria (30) are a little higher on the rating.
The passport index from Henley & Partners is an international rating of countries by the level of freedom of travel that they give their citizens. The index analyzes the visa regulations of more than 200 countries and territories and ranks them by the number of countries with visa-free entry. The position of a country in the rating is determined by the number of countries of the world its citizens can enter without getting visas in advance or getting a visa upon arrival.