Nationals of Eswatini will no longer be permitted to travel visa-free to Hong Kong, with the decision becoming effective on January 30, 2024.
According to a press release by the Government of Hong Kong, nationals of the Kingdom of Eswatini, including those who remain on the airside in transit, must have a visa to enter the country, with the measure being applicable to visits for any purpose, VisaGuide.World reports.
Prior to this announcement, Eswatini nationals were allowed to visit the Asian country for a period of up to 90 days without having to apply for a visa prior to their trip.
Hong Kong has all along adopted an open visa policy, under which nationals of about 170 countries and territories may visit Hong Kong visa-free for periods ranging from seven to 180 days. With a view to ensuring a proper balance between facilitating the entry of genuine visitors and the need to safeguard the integrity of immigration control, the visa policy is subject to constant review and changes will be introduced if circumstances so warrant.
Similarly, passport holders of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) are required to present a visa to visit the Kingdom of Eswatini, which is a landlocked country in South Africa.
According to the Passport Index by VisaGuide.World, Eswatini passport is ranked 128th internationally and its holders can travel visa-free to 46 countries. In addition, Eswataini passport holders have a visa-on-arrival agreement with 25 countries and eVisa with 12. Although the passport is not banned by any country, nor does it offer passport-free entry to any country.
Eswatini’s passport can further drop in rankings, considering the decision of the Hong Kong government, which was announced on January 30, 2024.
On the other hand, Hong Kong has a way stronger passport, which ranks 44th in the world and enables visa-free travel to 135 countries.
With a passport score of 83.89 points, Hong Kong passport holders can travel with an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to five countries and travel with a visa-on-arrival or e-visa to 29 and 19 countries, respectively. However, these passport holders have to apply for a visa to travel to 38 countries.
Hong Kong passport has mainly kept this position throughout 2023, starting with 42nd position in January of 2023, maintaining the same position in June 2023, and dropping to 45th position in August of the same year.