The importance attached to having a UAE passport has soared in the past year, according to the annual Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index.
The index, which gives an insight into the development of visa policies over the past year and decade, highlighted the rise of the UAE, rising 15 places to 40th globally.
“Comparing the 2015 index to the previous year shows many interesting results, the United Arab Emirates being a prime example,” the report said.
It added: “Over the past year, the UAE has been catapulted into the spotlight as the biggest climber with its dramatic addition of 37 countries and improvement in rank from 55 to 40.
“It is also the biggest climber over the ten years of the Visa Restrictions Index, and one of only 22 to have moved up in the rankings over the last year.”
The dramatic climb can be attributed to a new agreement with the EU for visa-free travel to 36 countries, including the 26 Schengen area states, which was made public in May.
As the first Arab country to be granted a European visa waiver, Emirati citizens may travel to a total of 113 countries visa-free, making it the most powerful passport in the MENA region, the report added. UAE was the highest mover over the past 12 months while another 22 countries moved up in the rankings.
The index said the world’s most powerful passports were now issued in the UK and Germany, with Finland, Sweden and the US all dropping to second place.
Sierra Leone saw the biggest drop, losing 24 places, while the four worst passports in the world were named as Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Pakistan.
Marco Gantenbein, managing partner of Henley & Partners in Dubai said: “Although the world is becoming ever more globalised, there remains a huge disparity in levels of travel freedom between countries.
“Visa requirements define and shape individuals’ ability to travel across borders. They also reflect strongly on each country’s relationships with others, and will take into account diplomatic relationships between the countries, reciprocal visa arrangements, security risks, and the risks of visa and immigration rules violations.”
He added: “Europe, the US and Canada, as the world’s economic powerhouses, continue to dominate the top 10 as we anticipated. However, it’s the performance of the UAE which needs to be applauded for the implied improvement of its international relations.”
Malta, the EU country which runs the world’s most successful citizenship-by-investment program with over EUR1 billion in capital raised since its launch about 18 months ago, also further improved its position and now has the 7th best passport in the world.
Looking at movement over the last decade, the UAE, Taiwan, Albania, Bosnia and Serbia all moved up more than 20 places in the index while the biggest drops were experienced by Guinea (-35), Liberia (-36), Sierra Leone (-38) and Bolivia (-40).
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