UAE passport strongest in the world, allows access to 180 countries: Study

Emaduddin Khalil, Staff Reporter

In conjunction with the 53rd Union Day of the United Arab Emirates, the Emirati passport has once again strengthened its position in the first place globally as the strongest passport in the world, after adding a new point, on Tuesday, according to the latest update of the "Passport Index" belonging to the "Arton Capital" global financial consulting company.

With the addition of the new point, the Emirati passport allows its holder to enter 180 countries, including 127 without a prior visa, and 53 countries where the holder can obtain visa online or upon arrival, with a percentage exceeding 90% of the world's countries.

It also reduced the number of countries which require a visa to only 18 countries out of 198 countries recognised by the United Nations.

According to the index, the Spanish passport came in the second place, allowing entry to 179 countries.

The passports of 14 countries compete for the third place, namely are "Finland, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Australia, Portugal, Norway, Switzerland, Greece, and Ireland," as their passports allow entry to 178 countries without a prior visa.

It is worth noting that the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs, and Ports Security (ICP) recently started the issuance of the Emirati passport with a validity of 10 years for citizens who are 21 years of age and older.