Assessing The Passport Strength

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There are number of factors that go into assessing the quality of Passport. As the citizenship by investment industry is increasingly popular among investors, each program is increasingly scrutinized and held up against other programs. While each investor is unique, and one citizenship by investment program may present aspects that are more attractive to one investor than they are to another. There are a number of common investors that are referenced in the assessment of each program's Passport strength.

Passports are ranked based on their Mobility score. The higher the score the better the Passport
Power Rank. Countries are ranked by the number of Passports they accept visa-free or with visa on arrival.    According to Henley Passport Index, Japan is the powerful passport in the world - Second year in a row, with Singapore and South Korea in second place and France & Germany ranked third. The Japanese passport offers visa-free travel to 190 destinations. With access to 185 destinations,
the U.S. passport is tied in a sixth place ranking along with Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, Norway,
U.K. and Switzerland. India ranked 86th for 2018 with 58 destinations Indian passport holders can travel to either visa-free, obtaining visa on arrival or with Electronic visa. The biggest improvement in the past decade was seen in United Arab Emirates, which gained 41 places to move to 20th spot from 61st in 2009. The steepest fall was seen in Nigeria which fell to 98th place in 2019 from 67th
in 2009. Afghanistan passport was the weakest with access to only 25 destinations. Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia were other nations at the bottom of the barrel.      

Following are the seven reliable indicators to analyse the best programs and accompanying Passport strength -
1) Visa -Free Travel access - Visa free access refers to the number of countries a particular
     Passport entitles one to visit without the need to apply for a Travel visa. In the case of Malta,
     passport allows visa-free travel to 152 countries. Similarly, Cyprus passport allows one to visit
     147 countries visa-free. In comparison, passport from St. Kitts and Nevis entitles one to 128
     countries visa-free.
   
2) Ability to retain citizenship - This is not a problem as a number of programs allows one to
    maintain dual citizenship. There are many benefits having dual citizenship. The ability to own
    Land in both places, take advantage of services offered in two locations, to protect assets and the
    option of having children's education without having to apply as international students.

3) Residency requirements - Not all investors are keen on taking time to visit the countries granting
     them second passports. This need not be concern if one selects a country like Grenada, which
     has no physical residency requirement.

4) Processing time - Can also be a factor for one selecting between programs as the speed with
     which one can obtain a passport can also play a factor in the selection process.While many
     consider the Malta Individual Investor Program to be the best on offer, it takes on average a
     year to obtain the Malta Passport after the application process has been completed, while one
     can obtain a Cyprus passport in four to six months.

5) Financial requirements - Caribbean program find themselves in competition with one another,
     many have been lowering their investment amount in a move to draw Investors. For example,
     following the Hurricane season, Antigua and Barbuda significantly reduce their donation option.

6) Reputation and Quality of life - Rounding out the list of Passport strength  considerations are
     reputation and quality of life. There is a lot riding on the reputation of a particular passport in
     terms of the advantages it affords. If one does plan relocating, the quality of life one will
     experience in a new country is of utmost importance.



                                                               --------------------

       

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