Suzanne Rowan Kelleher
Forbes Staff

What makes one passport more powerful than another? The best-known passport ranking, from London-based investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners, focuses solely on visa-free travel. Essentially, the more countries a citizen can visit without a visa, the better. In that ranking, six nations—France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain—tie for the top position, with 194 visa-free destinations apiece. (In 2024, the U.S. is tied for sixth, with 189.)


But Dubai-based immigration and tax consulting firm Nomad Capitalist believes evaluating passport strength is far more complicated.

“While most indices—and most people—think of a passport only in terms of travel privileges, we understand that citizens of different countries deal with very different requirements to pay tax, live freely, comply with regulations, and avoid scrutiny when traveling,” according to the 2024 Nomad Capitalist Passport Index, which weighs five criteria: visa-free travel (50%), taxation of citizens (20%), global perception (10%), dual citizenship (10%) and personal freedom (10%).

In Nomad Capitalist’s eighth annual ranking, all of the top five passports and eight of the top 10 belong to European nations.

Switzerland jumps from No. 3 last year to take the top spot in 2024, with Nomad Capitalist noting the country’s “exceptionally high levels of liberty and privacy.” Furthermore, “the country’s neutrality ensures that Swiss nationals remain some of the most respected travelers in the world, while its dual citizenship laws ensure that expats can access their own slice of Swiss Bliss.”

Jumping up a spot to No. 2 this year, Ireland stands out for its high passport visa scores, and its “excellent international reputation makes traveling as an Irish citizen generally hassle-free. While Ireland is not part of the European Schengen Area, it is a member of the EU and shares a Common Travel Area (CTA) agreement with the UK, allowing free travel to, and the right to work in, the UK,” says the report.

The No. 3 spot goes to Portugal, whose “citizens are widely welcomed around the world, enjoying visa-free travel to countries like South Africa that other European Union citizens don’t,” according to Nomad Capitalist. “Portugal is extremely hospitable to expats, with a great culture, high levels of English fluency, plus a favorable tax exemption program.”


Luxembourg and Finland are tied for 4th place in this year’s ranking. Tiny but prosperous Luxembourg offers high levels of freedom and boasts excellent passport perception. “As an added bonus for the expats living there, it recently became easier to naturalize as a citizen,” notes Nomad Capitalist. Finland offers visa-free travel to a large number of countries, but “more stringent tax policies for expats reduced the country’s score, dropping it to joint fourth.”

Last year’s No. 1, the United Arab Emirates, drops to sixth place in 2024 due to a change in UAE tax policy impacting domestic and overseas company owners.

Tied with Brazil at No. 44, the United States receives top marks for freely allowing Americans to hold dual citizenship, but gets middling scores for global perception (derived from the World Happiness Report, the Human Development Index, and subjective factors) and personal freedom (based on data and news reports on mandatory military service, government surveillance, press freedom, and other factors).

But mostly, the United States fares more poorly than many Western counterparts because of its tax policies. Nomad Capitalist assigns the lowest tax score to countries that tax citizens no matter where they live. The U.S. is one of only three countries in the world to tax overseas citizens with an expatriation tax. (Eritrea and Myanmar are the others.) For Americans living abroad, worldwide income is always subject to federal income tax. However, as the Internal Revenue Service points out, they may qualify for certain foreign earned income exclusions or foreign income tax credits



https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2024/03/06/us-passport-ranks-44th-most-powerful-in-the-world-per-new-index/?sh=6444800f18ac

Americans don't even send,if na Nigeria,our blogs then go don post everywhere.
For new creatures,our eternal citizenship is in Zion.

That is their problem!! We are not in America tell us about the Nigerian passport!!!!!!

🙄

Towncrier007:
Americans don't even send,if na Nigeria,our blogs then go don post everywhere.
For new creatures,our eternal citizenship is in Zion.

Most Americans are not smart enough to understand what's going on in their own country.

Nigeria s passport nko

That’s thier own problem.

Lies, your own Nigeria nko