Newest visa-free destinations for Indian passport holders
Here's some good news coming in for all travel freaks! Per the latest data revealed by Henley Passport Index, the Indian passport has jumped five spots up from last year, making it rank 80th on the index this year. With this, Indian citizens will now be able to travel visa-free or with a visa-on-arrival facility to a whopping 57 countries!
Here are the new visa-free destinations for Indian passport holders
Indian citizens could already travel visa-free to Bhutan, Oman, Nepal, Mauritius, and Qatar, but they can now also do so in 21 more destinations. These include Albania, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cook Islands, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Macao (China SAR), Micronesia, Montserrat, Niue, Senegal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, Vanuatu, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Here are the new visa-on-arrival countries for Indian passport holders
While Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, and Maldives were already on the list, Indian passport holders can now travel with visa-on-arrival to some new destinations. These include Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde Islands, Comoro Islands, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Laos, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Myanmar, Mozambique, Palau Islands, Rwanda, Samoa, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
New countries offering e-visa to Indian passport holders
There have been some additions to the list of countries offering e-visa services to Indian passport holders. You can now get e-visa from the following destinations - Angola, Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Colombia, Djibouti, Georgia, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Moldova, Morocco, Russia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Singapore, Suriname, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkiye, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.
Singapore replaces Japan to become the world's strongest passport
According to Henley Passport Index's data, the Singaporean passport is now the world's strongest overtaking the Japanese passport. The Singaporean passport now has access to visa-free entry in 192 countries. Japan, on the other hand, has now fallen to third place after spending five years at the top. Its number of visa-free destinations has decreased to 189 countries.
Germany, Italy, Spain rank 2nd; Pakistan, Afghanistan hit the bottom
Germany, Italy, and Spain together rank second on the Henley Passport Index, allowing visa-less/visa-on-arrival travel to 190 countries each. Pakistan stands at the 100th place, with citizens having visa-free access to only 33 countries. Following closely, Syria is at the 101st position, with Iraq ranked 102nd. Afghanistan ranks last at 103, having the least powerful passport in 2023.
