UAE joins the Top 10 Most Powerful Passports in the World

Bilateral visa waiver agreement with Russia propels UAE within the world’s most powerful passports.

Montreal, July 9, 2018 – Russia and the UAE have signed a bilateral visa waiver agreement, which helped boost UAE’s Visa-free Score to 156, placing it within the Top 10 Most Powerful Passports in the world. Currently the 10th place is shared with Cyprus and Croatia, as indicated by Passport Index’ real-time global ranking of the world’s passports.

Russia, currently with a Visa-free Score of 117, won’t see a change from this agreement, as the UAE had already issued a visa-on-arrival for Russian passport holders.

The two power nations foresaw a positive impact from the agreement, including favourable conditions for the development of business mobility and increased tourism between both countries. Over 750,000 Russians visited the UAE last year, contributing a total of US$2.3 billion to the UAE economy. In light of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, it seems Russia is equally seeing exponential growth in tourism within their nation.

In 2017, the UAE announced a daring goal with the UAE Passport Force Initiative – position the country’s passport on the list of the five most powerful passports in the world by 2021. At the time of the announcement, the UAE passport held a Visa-Free Score of 132, holding the rank as the GCC’s most powerful passport. By the end of May 2017, the UAE joined the list of the world’s Top 20 powerful passports with a Visa-free Score of 147. Only two years away from their self-imposed deadline, they have joined the Top 10 and have not lost focus on the target.

Over the last decade, the UAE has seen immense growth in multiple sectors, including technology, education, finance, and infrastructure. Having gained the trust and respect of over 35 countries, the UAE’s passport power has also mirrored that growth. The UAE Passport Force Initiative projected the Visa-free score to reach 137 in 2018, and have clearly exceeded their expectations.

How long do you think it will take for the UAE to complete their goal as the world’s Top 5 Passports- and do they have a good chance at reaching the #1 position? Let us know what you think!

About The Passport Index
Empowered by Arton Capital, The Passport Index is the world authority on real-time global passport ranking. Used by governments from around the world to monitor and increase the power of their passports, The Passport Index is the most recognized and trusted service with over 14 million users to date. Users enjoy in the fascinating world of passports, explore their designs, sort them (by country, region and even by color), compare them side-by-side, and see how to improve their Global Mobility Score.

Media Enquiries
Mr. Rupert Wright, Ashbright, [email protected], T + 44 7557 371908, T +971 5 410 5478

United Arab Emirates passport holders can visit 180 countries visa-free1 or 90% of the world.

AFRICA | AMERICAS | ASIA | EUROPE | OCEANIA
A
Albania
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
B
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
C
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Congo (Dem. Rep.)
Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
D
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
E
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Ethiopia
F
Fiji
Finland
France
G
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
H
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
I
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
J
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
K
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
L
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
M
Macao
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
N
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Norway
O
Oman
P
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian Territories
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Q
Qatar
R
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
S
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
T
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Tunisia
Tuvalu
Türkiye
U
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
V
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Viet Nam
Y
Yemen
Z
Zambia
Zimbabwe
1Visa-free includes visa-free, visa on arrival, eTA and eVisa (if issued in less than 3 working days).
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