UAE passport continues its rise in global influence

The UAE passport is now one of the most powerful in the world, a new list of rankings shows.

Arton Capital’s updated index rates the Emirates passport as the regional leader, with a score of 162 for a power category of four.

Arton Capital is a financial advisory specialising in assisting people seeking second residencies.

It ranks passports by cross-border access and assigns a “visa-free score” according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit without a visa or with one on arrival.

The UAE’s ranking of 25 places it in the same league as countries such as the Czech Republic and Hungary, and above Iceland, New Zealand and Australia, all of which have a power ranking of six.

UAE nationals now receive visa-free travel to 113 countries and can obtain visas on arrival in a further 49. Only 36 countries require Emiratis to apply for a visa in advance.

Citizens of Germany and Singapore own the world’s most powerful passports, according to the index, with visa-free travel to 127 countries, visas on arrival in 38 countries and visas required for a further 33 countries.

This year, UAE citizens gained visa-free access to several more countries including Ireland, Canada and China.

The passport climbed from 38th to 21st place in this year’s Henley Passport Index, where it sits on par with Barbados above Mexico, the Bahamas and Uruguay.

That is a rise of 41 places since 2006.