| Azlan Othman |
BRUNEI Darussalam’s passport is continuing its powerful journey allowing its holders to move across borders without having to undergo the ordeal of a cumbersome visa application process.
The Sultanate’s passport has been ranked sixth in Asia and retained its 23rd place globally in this year’s Visa Restrictions Index of Henley & Partners, bucking a global trend of decreased travel freedom.
In the Index for Asia, Brunei was ranked after Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Brunei was also ranked third among South-east Asian countries, behind Singapore and Malaysia. The number of countries and territories that Brunei passport holders enjoy visa-free access to has remained unchanged from last year at 151 out of the 218 countries and territories surveyed.
Germany (176) and Sweden (175) retained their last year’s first and second positions respectively, although both lost visa-free access to one country.
File photo of the immigration checkpoint at the Brunei International Airport. – AZROL AZMI
Brunei’s rank of 23 in 2016 was a drop from 18th place in 2015 and 17th in 2014.
In January this year, the passport index devised by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital ranked the Sultanate as the world’s 20th most powerful passport with a visa-free score of 134.
Dr Christian H Kälin, Chairman of Henley & Partners, said that although the size and make-up of the top 10 remain the same as last year, the changing geopolitical climate could well affect the rankings over the next 12 months.
“We have witnessed several major events recently that are likely to have an impact on global mobility – including Brexit and the election of US President Donald Trump,” explained Dr Kälin, a leading authority on international immigration and citizenship law and policy.
“Both can be interpreted as steps toward restricting movement and creating barriers to entry. This trend towards curbing travel freedom is already apparent in the shift in rankings on this year’s Visa Restrictions Index,” Dr Kälin said.
The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom that their citizens enjoy.
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