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Countries with the Worst Passports

Which countries have the least-powerful passports, as measured by the number of countries that can be visited without a visa?
Only sovereign countries according to JetPunk
Quiz by KeithRuffles
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Last updated: July 27, 2022
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First submittedOctober 3, 2013
Times taken41,823
Average score63.6%
Rating4.87
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#
Country
35
Afghanistan
37
Iraq
37
Syria
42
Pakistan
42
Somalia
43
Yemen
#
Country
48
Bangladesh
48
Libya
48
North Korea
49
Eritrea
50
D.R. Congo
50
Ethiopia
#
Country
50
Iran
50
South Sudan
50
Sudan
51
Nepal
52
Nigeria
#
Country
52
Rep. of the Congo
52
Sri Lanka
53
Kosovo
53
Lebanon
53
Myanmar
+28
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2019
Sadly for Afghanis, I doubt they could actually use their passport to travel to the countries that freely admit them. Many of those countries are very remote and impossible to travel to without stopping in another country first.
+35
Level 87
Dec 9, 2019
Hey, Afghans can get a 30-day visa on arrival for Tuvalu! Didn't see any Afghans there, but I did see a number of them on Nauru.
+15
Level 80
Mar 31, 2020
That Nauru joke was rough but true.
+12
Level 76
Dec 9, 2019
Lots of countries offer visa free transit though, right? You usually don't need to even go through customs when getting a connection international flight.
+8
Level 87
Dec 10, 2019
Except not the US, which would make it hard for those Afghans to get their visa-free access to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
+1
Level 82
Dec 12, 2019
Even where you usually stay in transit area, the country may demand transit visa for certain passports (such as those on top of this quiz), which means the airline wouldn't allow you on the flight for starters.
+1
Level 82
May 21, 2020
I've only ever had to go through customs and therefore use my passport in transit when I was changing airports or I had an overnight layover somewhere.
+1
Level 42
Sep 10, 2022
Surprised that North Korea even has a passport.
+3
Level 66
Dec 9, 2019
So how exactly is the “Power” of a passport determined?
+30
Level 87
Dec 9, 2019
I guess, by the number of countries its holder can visit without having to get a visa in advance.
+4
Level 78
Dec 10, 2019
Would be interested to know which 50 countries allow citizens of North Korea and how many North Koreans have managed to get to any of them.
+1
Level 87
Dec 10, 2019
You can follow the link at the top of the quiz, then select "Compare", and you can find out which countries work for North Koreans. (For example, Tuvalu!)
+3
Level 81
Dec 10, 2019
Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Iran, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Macao, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palau, Palestine, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent, Suriname, Tanzania, East Timor, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda according to the source, but I know a lot of people will go to China visa free and South Korea of course does not require a visa.
+7
Level 78
Dec 10, 2019
Thanks. Of course, post Brexit we in the UK may make this list :(
+4
Level 79
Feb 2, 2020
Why the sad face?
+10
Level 65
Apr 1, 2020
It is a happy face, he just has eyes on his chin
+1
Level 88
Dec 11, 2019
So many to choose from.
+17
Level 73
Dec 11, 2019
Would have expected Central African Republic.
+4
Level 86
Dec 12, 2019
Just barely misses the list at 57.
+2
Level 69
Dec 15, 2019
What did the Kosovar do?
+19
Level 89
Dec 19, 2019
Their independence is not universally recognized. Some countries allow the passport to be used while not recognizing the country, etc.
+2
Level 82
Mar 31, 2020
Could have sworn I typed "Congo"... only 2 I missed.
+5
Level 52
Mar 31, 2020
I imagine this matches more or less perfectly to "largest sources of refugees"?
+9
Level 62
Mar 31, 2020
Well, to be honest some of the people from the countries on the list don't bother using passports and just walk across national borders on their way to Germany, UK and Sweden.
+3
Level 71
Jan 4, 2021
True. However, covid has halted things and the EU has already been putting the brakes on migration both at home and abroad. Italy has been using their navy to prevent Africans from reaching the mainland and Greece has been stopping Syrians from crossing in through Turkey. Meanwhile Germany has even sent their military into Sub Saharan Africa to work with various leaders including some dictators who are known human rights violators by paying them and giving them newer technology to keep migrants out of Europe. Money talks.
+1
Level 72
Oct 5, 2023
Which of the countries of Africa do not violate human rights in some way?
+1
Level 71
Jan 4, 2021
Weird how Central African Republic isn't on this list.
+3
Level 62
Apr 27, 2021
Didn't think of Kosovo; the question of their passports is an interesting one. They're not a fully independent country in my mind; it must create a bit of a mess with passports and other certificates if they move or work abroad, etc.
+4
Level 64
Mar 16, 2022
As with anything, bow down to the US empire and go where you like. Dare to live in a country that stands up for itself and and they do everything they can to restrict you.
+5
Level 82
Mar 21, 2022
It's not the US empire it's the international system of countries that believe in cooperation, law, human rights, peaceful coexistence, and, often, democracy. If you want to be a belligerent rogue nation, so that the corrupt kleptocrats in power can better hold on to their power, almost always at the expense of their own people more than anyone else, you'll end up with a weaker passport. Though the "weakness" of passports has as much or more to do with economics than politics. But... having a poor economy is also often the result of a country being run by belligerent, corrupt kleptocracies. Trying to seal off your nation from dangerous ideas not controlled by the state is bad for the economy. And then when your people end up poor and destitute other countries start worrying about your citizens becoming economic migrants. I don't personally share those concerns, but, that's the reality of it.
+3
Level 57
Jul 27, 2022
Can't even be bothered to read this but I can guess it affirms what SaorAlba said
+5
Level 79
Sep 29, 2022
Boy, that's an intelligent way to go about life sergeantmalice!
+2
Level 82
Nov 24, 2022
Shielding off your own mind from dangerous facts and information the same way North Korea shields its people from the same is really the only way you could come to conclusions other than what I stated above.
+1
Level 49
Nov 24, 2022
Not having a good passport doesn't really have anything to do with your human rights record. If it did, then the UAE wouldn't have one of the best passports in the world. It mostly has to do with having a strong economy, low levels of violence, and to a lesser extent having close allies.
+1
Level 82
Nov 27, 2022
I didn't use the term human rights, and certainly didn't imply that that was the one and only determining factor, but if you look at the countries on the above list there does appear to be a correlation. It has more to do with, like I said, countries being run by corrupt kleptocrats or rogue warlords who prioritize holding on to power more than cooperating with other nations. This *is* negatively correlated with many things, including the strength of a nation's economy, the strength of its democratic institutions, stability of government, *and* human rights... but none of those correlated things are themselves the whole ball of wax. *and*, it's possible to pick out nations, like the UAE, that are not democratic and that don't have the best human rights record, but at the same time *are* interested in international cooperation and maintaining positive diplomatic and trade relations with other countries. This shores up my point more than it detracts from it.
+1
Level 82
Mar 21, 2022
Bashar al-Assad: heroically dropping barrel bombs on political opponents, peaceful protestors, and/or innocent civilians (and mostly the latter) since '11... because that's how you really stick it to Uncle Sam! What an inspiration!
+1
Level 66
Nov 24, 2022
It's probably more (ie entirely) due to the statistical likelihood of overstaying a visa and thereby becoming an illegal immigrant.
+1
Level 82
Nov 27, 2022
Certainly not entirely, but, yes, it has more to do with this than "daring to stand up for yourself" - which is a nonsensical non-factor. The possibility that people from these countries overstay their visas while visiting other countries is also correlated strongly with what I said about nations being run by belligerent autocrats and kleptocrats, as those countries tend to have bad economies, prioritizing enriching their leaders over the common man, and little respect for the lives and rights of their citizens, prioritizing the ruling class holding on to power over democracy or freedom, leading to many people wanting to flee to other places.
+2
Level 65
Sep 16, 2022
Can anyone offer explanation for Sri Lanka? I guess there's been prolonged civil war; as recently as 2009(?). I also missed Nepal. I thought it was mainly neutral- I guess they had a civil war 1996-2006 as well.

Also surprised to not find CAR on the list. I guess radical Muslims haven't made it in high enough numbers there yet? Aso Mali/Mauritania.

+1
Level 82
Nov 24, 2022
I think that the South Asian countries that show up here, though they are not as poor and/or not as belligerent as many of the other countries that show up above, suffer by virtue of their geography. Other regions of the world have more economic and political cooperation between larger numbers of countries. South Asia has relatively fewer countries, is dominated mostly by India, and India doesn't get along particularly well with most of its neighbors, leaving them more isolated than many poorer and/or less stable countries in Africa, the Middle East, SE Asia or Latin America.
+2
Level 71
Nov 24, 2022
Also, I allude to this on the opposite quiz, but immigration. South Asians immigrants go everywhere, essentially to any country that's even slightly richer than them. This is not a concern for poorer and less populous countries like, say, Chad or Mali. A lot of richer countries probably the best way to limit illegal immigration from these countries is not allowing them in in the first place--hence, strict visa requirements. The only reason India is not on here I suspect is because it's a powerful enough country that it can negotiate for visa-free travel, something the other countries can't do.
+1
Level 82
Dec 1, 2022
JWatson: just an aside, but I don't think I've said this before, but I enjoy having your perspective here. Your comments are usually well thought-out and informative and since you come from India (right? or am I mistaken?) they also contain a perspective underrepresented amongst all the other comments from Americans, Europeans, and various other Anglophone countries.
+1
Level 82
Dec 1, 2022
actually... just looked at your profile and it says your from Pennsylvania, visited Bangladesh, but never been to India... pardon my ignorance. Should have checked first. Are you a Bengali immigrant in the US? Or were your parents from India and you've never gone back for a visit? Or am I just confused?
+1
Level 82
Dec 3, 2022
you're*
+2
Level 49
Nov 24, 2022
Radical Christians are a much bigger threat in CAR than radical Muslims...
+1
Level 59
Nov 24, 2022
Hmmmmmm, I guess I agree with your point. Not so sure about the political correctness of the term 'radical Muslims' though...
+1
Level 70
Nov 27, 2022
It'll be interesting to watch how travel restrictions for Russian citizens change (if at all). The EU, as of November 2022, designated Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism", but that's largely symbolic. Over the summer, the EU balked at an outright visa ban for Russian tourists. Some European countries, though, are going forward with their own independent restrictions, but it's been suggested Russians could "visa shop" essentially nullifying those efforts.
+1
Level 41
Feb 19, 2023
I spelt Kosovo wrong XD
+1
Level 68
Sep 6, 2023
Congo is accepted for D.R. and Rep of. Might want to fix that.