US passports have weakened under Trump
October 26, 2017 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Making America great again hasn’t translated well to passport bragging rights.
Singapore was named the country with the most powerful passport in the world — while the US travel document has taken a tumble since President Trump took power, according to a new ranking.
Developed by citizenship advisory firm Arton Capital, the Passport Index sorts and ranks the world’s passports by their cross-border access.
Thanks to a recent decision by Paraguay to remove visa requirements for passport holders of the Asian city-state, they can now easily visit 159 countries — either without a visa or by obtaining a visa on arrival.
Until this decision, Singapore was tied with Germany at 158.
Germany now holds the spot for the second-most powerful passport, closely followed by Sweden and South Korea at 157.
The United Kingdom got a score of 156, while the United States got 154 — tied with Canada, Ireland and Malaysia.
This marks the first time an Asian country has had the most powerful passport, said Philippe May, head of the Singapore office of Arton Capital, the global advisory firm that developed the index.
“Singapore has constantly increased its passport strength since it became independent in 1965,” May told CNN.
The US passport has fallen in favor since Trump became president, the Passport Index said, noting that Turkey and the Central African Republic were the most recent countries to revoke visa-free status for Americans.
This means US citizens will not be allowed to leave Turkish airports during connecting flights.
And American passports could get weaker still, as the European Parliament voted to end visa-free travel for US citizens in March, the UK’s Express reported.
The vote followed Trump’s refusal to allow visa-free travel to members of five EU countries — Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.
Last year, the US came close behind the UK, ranking in the fourth spot, with its citizens able to travel visa-free to 156 countries.
Passports of 193 United Nations member countries and six territories were considered in the index. Singaporean passport holders need visas to countries such as Pakistan and Bhutan.
The least mobile passport in the world is Afghanistan, with a score of 22, followed by Pakistan and Iraq at 26.
