A Ukrainian passport gives its holders visa-free travel to 128 countries in the world, double the number of a decade ago, according to the latest ranking by Henley & Partners, a global migration consultancy. Moreover, the country moved up 22 positions in the ranking – from 65th in 2010 to its current rank of 43rd place. The advent of visa-free travel to the European Schengen zone provided the big lift.
The ranking evaluates the strength of national passports worldwide based on such criteria as ease of traveling abroad, economic development, political stability, and the freedoms that holders of such passports enjoy as citizens. Henley & Partners, a London-based citizenship and immigration firm, pens the report in cooperation with migration scholars from leading universities worldwide.
It’s not all good news. Marina Soroka, an independent international relations expert, wrote in the report that emigration from Ukraine continues because of political and economic instability. The country “experienced a considerable outflow of migrants in 2019,” just like other countries founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Japan comes out as the leader of this year’s ranking by citizenship value, winning first place with a score of 191, followed by Singapore with 190. Germany and South Korea tied for third place with 189 points.
Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova holds is six places below Ukraine. Russia is placed 51st in the ranking, eight spots below Ukraine. The passport of Belarus is ranked 68, whereas Georgia took the 53rd position, climbing 19 places.
In 2018, Ukraine’s passport ranked 42nd in the report, according to the Kyiv Post. To compile its passport strength index, Henley and Partners cooperate with the IATA, the International Air Traffic Association, which has the most authoritative passport database in the world.
