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UAE biggest climber in 2019 passport rankings

India and Pakistan's passports fall in Henley rankings.

The Henley Passport Index has released its quarterly report of the world's most powerful passports, with Singapore and Japan topping the list.
The list was based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which analyses how many countries a passport holder can enter visa-free or on a visa-on-arrival basis. The index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations - including micro-states and territories.
Also read: How to get free UAE visa this summer
Japan and Singapore have held onto their joint top spot, with each country offering visa-free access to 189 destinations.
UAE tops the list in terms of the biggest climber in the past 10 years. The UAE passport has jumped from 61 in 2009 to 20 in 2019 - making it one of the most powerful passports in the world, and the most powerful passport in the region.
According to another index, Passport Index, the UAE passport is the world's strongest with 175 points, followed by Finland, Luxembourg, and Spain sharing the second spot jointly with 168 points. Denmark, US, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany and Switzerland are among the 11 countries listed jointly as third on the Passport Index.
The Passport Index, created by the Arton Capital, ranks passports based on the number of countries the holder can visit without first obtaining a visa or applying for one on entry.
Recently, Emiratis were added to the visa waiver list by South Africa and Equatorial Guinea - with the latter allowing select passport holders to enter the country visa-free and stay for a maximum of 90 days.

South Korea now sits in second place on the index along with Finland and Germany on the Henley index, with citizens of all three countries able to access 187 destinations around the world without a prior visa.
The UK and the US now sit in sixth place, with a visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 183 - the lowest position either country has held since 2010 and a significant drop from their first-place spot in 2014, the report said.
India's passport has dropped from 79th to 86th position on the index with visa-free access or visa-on-arrival reducing to 58 countries, while neighbouring Pakistan ranked 106 with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 30 countries.
Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the global mobility spectrum, with its citizens able to access only 25 destinations worldwide without a prior visa.