# What is the best passport in the world to have?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 4, 2016, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127 "2016-02-04T09:08:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/21 "2016-02-05T07:45:17Z")
> [@scootergirl](#):
>
> I became a United States citizen in 1998. Prior to that I traveled with a Peruvian passport. Without fail, if I was crossing borders my suitcases would be torn apart. Tampons and personal items thoroughly inspected, and a few times pulled aside to be asked yet more questions.
Try travelling with a Pakistani passport these days. As a single man in my thirties. Immigration officials see me and think “Jackpot !!!” and “promotion”,!!!
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/22 "2016-02-05T14:00:10Z")
Yeah, but they think that just from looking at you anyway. I have a UK passport and I’ve managed to escape “random” additional screenings just once in US airports.
---
### Author:  [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/23 "2016-02-05T14:27:11Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> Yeah, but they think that just from looking at you anyway. I have a UK passport and I’ve managed to escape “random” additional screenings just once in US airports.
I don’t look like a stereotypical South Asian\*:D, its usually my passport which set off alarm bells; once the genius took aside a turbaned Canadian Sikh gentleman I had been traveling with and waved me forward. Of course the combo that you have is probably even more “dangerous” these days; is your name one which might not be readily identifiable as Hindu (IIRC you said your family was from what is now Pakistani Punjab).
\*My sister is even worse, she is quite swarthy, but has blue eyes, it makes the poor buggers head hurt, the conflciting signals. Everytime someone says that profiling is _not_ happening makes me want to laugh, and laugh even louder when someone says that its effective.
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/24 "2016-02-05T14:45:08Z")
No, I lucked out there - my stepfather is Multani, but my own family (and my name) are Marathi. What’s funny is that the profiling gets proportionately worse as my clothing gets better; if I wore a suit on a flight, I’d probably be asked to leave the plane. If I wear a band T-shirt with shorts and flip-flops I usually don’t get bothered much at all.
---
### Author:  [@GlowingDarkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GlowingDarkness)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/25 "2016-02-05T16:09:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> Yeah, but they think that just from looking at you anyway. I have a UK passport and I’ve managed to escape “random” additional screenings just once in US airports.
Are random screening really that bad? And were you coming into the US or departing from the US?
---
### Author:  [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/26 "2016-02-05T16:32:23Z")
> [@GlowingDarkness](#):
>
> Are random screening really that bad? And were you coming into the US or departing from the US?
Well when I had the honour of being given a secondary screening at JFK, I was escorted by the CBP officers to a side room where I waited for a hour to be asked the exact same questions as I had answered earlier. I had been up at this point for 24 hours and was dog tired. It was annoying and yes a little scary. On the plus side I did not have to wait for my baggage at baggage claim, they removed it and placed it to the side.
At Istanbul when I got secondary screening I did not even realise that I had been selected until it was over and my friend (who had not been selected) asked me where I had been.
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/27 "2016-02-05T17:14:38Z")
> [@GlowingDarkness](#):
>
> Are random screening really that bad? And were you coming into the US or departing from the US?
I’ve only flown in/out of NYC and DC once each, and I suspect things would be a lot worse if I went that way often. When I’ve been pulled aside it was just for some bonus wanding and inspection of my carry-on. I’ve never had to go to a side room.
---
### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/28 "2016-02-05T18:06:54Z")
> [@AK84](#):
>
> I don’t look like a stereotypical South Asian\*:D, its usually my passport which set off alarm bells; …
With a name like AK84, no wonder you get searched!
---
### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/29 "2016-02-05T21:04:50Z")
> [@GlowingDarkness](#):
>
> Are random screening really that bad? And were you coming into the US or departing from the US?
I once got searched nine times, three of them in the same queue; I’d also had to open my suitcase before it was allowed on the belt (not weight, it was security). My flight had been changed by the airline (we were supposed to go Philly-Paris-Madrid, they changed us to Philly-NYC-Barcelona-Madrid), but so were the flights of two dozen other people and they didn’t get more patdowns than a cheap whore… once or twice, ok, but nine times? And the contents of my suitcase were terribly boring unless you’re really, really, excited by whisky-colored, no-lace female underwear.
---
### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/30 "2016-02-05T22:04:19Z")
Actually, I am slightly curious as to how your underwear got to be whisky-coloured… OTOH, probably none of my business.
---
### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/31 "2016-02-05T23:33:33Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> And the contents of my suitcase were terribly boring unless you’re really, really, excited by whisky-colored, no-lace female underwear.
Ohhh, madame, I think we need very VERY close screening… 😃
> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> Gallifreyan.
You kidding? Half the known Universe would open fire upon you on sight. Most of the other half would doublecheck first \*then \*open fire.
---
### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/32 "2016-02-08T00:44:15Z")
> [@Diceman](#):
>
> I would think a Canadian passport would be pretty valuable. As good as a US passport, but without the diplomatic/political baggage that might get you into trouble in certain parts of the world.
You might think so, but I’ve recently been peripherally involved in a case where the Canadian Embassy was shockingly indifferent to the trials, literal and figurative, of one of its citizens, Neil Bantleman\*. It turned out that Neil was also entitled to a British passport. Both the US and the UK ambassadors did far more to support Neil than the Canadian diplomatic community did. I have to say, I was really proud of how the US Ambassador to Indonesia stood up for justice, even when none of the victims were American.
\*If you try to learn the story by Googling, be forewarned that it is very complicated and a lot of what you read may be out of date or incorrect. This CBC documentary has few inaccuracies but it’s pretty good: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxO2rGExhjQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxO2rGExhjQ) I think the Bantlemans even mention somewhere in the film that they couldn’t understand why the Canadian Embassy did so little to help, but I may be conflating that with something I saw elsewhere.
---
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/33 "2016-02-08T07:26:42Z")
> [@Clothahump](#):
>
> IMNSHO, it would be one full of visas and stamps from a whole bunch of different countries that you have visited over the years.
Dunno. It used to be the case that some of the country stamps in your passport might impede or prevent your entry into other countries. Turkey/Greece/Cyprus was such a case.
---
### Author:  [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/34 "2016-02-09T00:10:31Z")
> [@GlowingDarkness](#):
>
> According to this website and Henley Global, its the US and UK passports.
>
> [https://www.passportindex.org/byRank.php](https://www.passportindex.org/byRank.php)
>
> [https://www.henleyglobal.com/international-visa-restrictions/](https://www.henleyglobal.com/international-visa-restrictions/)
>
> But that is only for visa free travel. If you take in factors like work restrictions and residency restrictions an EU passport IMHO is far better than the US one.
>
> What other factors would you take in? Do you consider your passport the best?
>
> Also I heard that the US taxes on citizenship. Yikes ☹
Interesting that the “Passport Index” site considers how many of 193 countries one can travel to without a visa and saying that the US is join top with 147.
Two years ago it was reported that the UK, Sweden and Finland were joint top with 173:
> **[The Countries With The Most Powerful Passports](https://www.businessinsider.com/the-countries-with-the-most-powerful-passports-2014-6?IR=T)**
>
> An infographic showing the most and least powerful passports in the world.
And then a year ago Sweden, Finland, the UK, the US and Germany could go to 174.
> **[The most powerful and restrictive passports in the world](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3021237/The-powerful-passports-world-revealed-ones-barely-let-travel-anywhere.html)**
>
> The Visa Restrictions Index ranks countries globally in accordance to the travel freedom their inhabitants enjoy, with Finland, Germany, Sweden, the US and UK coming out on top.
One wonders what has changed. I wish they’d say that.
---
### Author:  [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2016, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127/35 "2016-02-10T10:12:11Z")
There’s a good article on why Americans abroad are giving up their citizenships in record numbers [on the BBC news site](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/35383435). My main reasons for giving it up are the pensions issue and the inability to open new investment accounts.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-passport-in-the-world-to-have/745127.md?page=1)