Passport Index 2017<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Global Passport Power Rank 2017 by Arton Capital, a leading global advisory for residence and citizenship solutions, assesses national passports by the cross-border access they bring, assigns a \u201cvisa-free score\u201d according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and the three other countries in the same ranking, scores 154 in the visa-free score.<\/p>\n
This year, Malaysia is ranked above countries such as Australia and New Zealand, but below countries Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which ranks first in the index.<\/p>\n
The top 10 most powerful passports have always been dominated by European counties, with Germany topping the index in the past two years.<\/p>\n
However, Singapore has been sharing the number one position since early 2017, when it shot to the top of the index after Paraguay removed visa requirements for Singaporeans, with a visa-free score of 159.<\/p>\n
“For the first time ever, an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world,” said Managing Director of Arton Capital’s Singapore office, Philippe May, on its website.<\/p>\n
“It is a testament of Singapore’s inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy,” he added.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the US passport has dropped in ranking since US President Donald Trump took office, said the website.<\/p>\n
Most recently, Turkey and the Central African Republic revoked their visa-free status to US passport holders.<\/p>\n
[Source<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It scores 154 for visa free score in 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":30359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[216,231],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-updates","category-travel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Malaysian Passport Ranks Sixth Globally<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n