Following the removal of entry visas for Kosovo passport holders by the Schengen Area Member States, the country has climbed up by as many as 90 positions in the VisaGuide Passport Index.
According to the January update of the index, Kosovo is now the world’s 98th most powerful passport, climbing up from the 188th position where it was listed last month, in December 2023.
Commenting on the new power that Kosovo’s passport now withholds, the founder of VisaGuide.World, Besart Bajrami, has called the climb up in the index “historical”.
This is a historical achievement for Kosovo, and a historical climb up in the passport strength index, which showcases that only the EU has the exclusive authority to increase the power of a passport overnight, to such an extent.
Since January 1, 2024, holders of biometric Kosovo passports can travel completely visa-free to 44 world countries. Citizens of this country can also enter another four without a passport, but only with a valid ID – Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
Yet, Kosovo citizens need a traditional visa to travel to as many as 97 world countries, a visa on arrival to visit 32, and an eVisa for trips to another 33 countries.
The governments of 16 world countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Moldova, Russia, Syria, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela – have banned Kosovo passport holders from entering their territory, mainly because they do not recognize it as an independent state.
Last December, when Kosovo was listed 188th in the VisaGuide Passport Index, its citizens could visit visa-free only 11 countries, and needed traditional visas for trips to 130 countries in total.
The VisaGuide Passport Index ranks world passports based on a carefully built formula that gives travel with a visa, e-visa, visa-on-arrival, visa-free and passport-free a different value each while also taking into account factors like the value of the destination, which makes it possible for every passport to have its unique score, and finally, makes passport ranking more accurate than ever.
The index is updated on the first day of every month, which makes it the most accurate and up to date existing index.
In January 2024, just like in December, the world’s most powerful passport is that of Spain, followed by Germany and Singapore.