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BD passport among least powerful in world

* Lowly rated at 94th with Libya * Citizens can travel to 41 destinations visa-free


FE Report | May 24, 2018 00:00:00


The passport of Bangladesh is the 94th in a global ranking of 199 such documents in the world, according to a new survey.

The latest annual update of the Henley Passport Index released on Wednesday ranked Bangladeshi passport jointly with Libya's.

The survey showed that Bangladeshi passport holders can now visit 41 destinations without a prior visa.

This means no visa or visa on arrival, or a visitor's permit, or an electronic travel authority are required for Bangladeshis while entering a destination.

These visa-types require no pre-departure government approval, due to the specific visa-waiver programmes in place, according to a note related to the index.

It is prepared by Henley & Partners, an international firm on residence and citizenship planning

Last time, the passport of Bangladesh was ranked 95th.

It also showed that 'power' of Bangladeshi passport has increased marginally in the last couple of years. In 2015, it was ranked the 99th, which became the 96th in 2016.

The index is a ranking of all the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel without a visa.

In six Asian countries, Bangladeshi passport-holders do not need prior visas or can enter with visa on arrival. The countries are Bhutan, Indonesia, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste.

In Africa, there are 16 countries that provide visa on arrival or prior e-visa to Bangladeshi citizens. These are: Benin, Cape Verde Islands, Comores Islands, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Togo and Uganda.

Bangladeshi passport is also eligible to get access without prior visa in seven Oceania region countries. These are: Cook Islands, Fiji, Micronesia, Niue, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Some 11 Caribbean countries and territories also allow visa-free entry to Bangladeshi citizens, the index showed. These are: Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

In the continent of America, only Bolivia provides visa-free access to Bangladeshi passport-holders.

The index puts Japanese passport at the top of the list, which is jointly followed by Singaporean and German passports.

The citizens of Japan can enjoy visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a record 189 destinations.

Citizens of Singapore and Germany are getting 188 destinations accessible without a prior visa.

The third place is shared by six countries: only South Korea in Asia and the rest are European countries such as Finland, France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.

The US and the UK are tied in the fourth place, along with Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Portugal.

In South Asia, Indian passport ranked 76th with visa-free access to 59 destinations while Sri Lanka's ranked 93rd with access to 42 destinations.

Pakistan ranked 98th having visa-free access to 33 destinations around the world.

The Henley Passport Index surveys a total of 199 different passports against 227 different travel destinations, including countries, territories, and micro-states.

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