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US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/most-powerful-passports-world-list
42•teleforce•1h ago

Comments

latexr•1h ago
The measure for how “powerful” a passport is:

> The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index

According to the article, the US passport was at the top of the list a decade ago, last year it was in seventh place, and now it’s in twelfth.

Novosell•24m ago
Shared 12th. There are many ties. It is 36th overall, as in 35 countries can go to more places without a visa.
latexr•14m ago
Fair point. To add, last year when it was in 7th it had 25 countries above it. The website only goes as far back as 2016, and at that point it was in 4th place with 10 countries above it.
gp•52m ago
There are multiple ties in the list that actually put the US passport tied for 37th in the ranking.

https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index/ranking

graemep•34m ago
Its a very simplistic measure. How easy it is to get visas is at least as important. From a practical point of view allow dual nationality is a big convenience.
victor106•32m ago
Does this really matter? US is the most powerful country in the world economically and militarily and maybe even culturally.
strken•11m ago
It's a diplomatic bellwether. It doesn't matter in itself, but it's an interesting indicator of who is the most friendly nation. Note that Singapore leads the list; consider what you know about their foreign policy approach.

Is it in the interests of the US to play nice? Is that even morally correct? Regardless, this is a sign that it's no longer doing so.

sdsd•8m ago
It matters if you like to travel. I dislike having to apply for a visa to travel somewhere. I'm blessed with a Mexican passport which means I can go almost anywhere in the world just with my passport.
BirAdam•30m ago
I agree that Dual Citizenship is a dream among a large plurality of Americans, but I don’t think it’s for Visa-free tourism. I think it’s because a growing number of Americans feel that the country is unstable and likely headed toward a failed-state status.
BolexNOLA•28m ago
Been exploring it in my household for sure.
jghn•14m ago
Same. It's shifted from an escapist fantasy about getting away from it all to a more literal definition of "escapist fantasy". if it weren't for family & friend ties binding us to our geographical area it'd already be a lot more serious. We're not *that* far from a low end FIRE situation, so a move to a more LCOL country could make a ton of sense and escape ... all of this.
BolexNOLA•7m ago
I get a lot of grief for it from a few people but the simple fact is it’s gone from an unthinkable possibility to something I would consider a single-digit- percentage possibility. At that point it feels like something I need to at least be moderately prepared for. Especially as someone in the gulf south.

It just doesn’t feel very safe down here anymore. Watching ICE roll through in full equipment on armored vehicles during Mardi Gras this year was a serious wake up call. That’s not the kind of show of force you do for shits and giggles. That’s textbook “send them a message.”

RcouF1uZ4gsC•11m ago
There aren’t that many places out of America’s orbit where you would want to live.

If by failure you mean fascist and authoritarian, America could still reach you.

DSingularity•7m ago
> still reach you

Yeah but the effort just went up 10x

Besides I don’t think they are moving to resist the fascism. It’s to seek an alternative and carry on living.

zoklet-enjoyer•6m ago
It looks like a huge hassle, but I should be able to get citizenship in an EU county based on ancestry. I should do that sooner than later.
rayiner•2m ago
[delayed]
Thaxll•29m ago
This list is useless, it's much better to have a US / Can / EU passport than Singapore for example, Singapore has 50 overseas missions world-wide, for instance France has 280, good luck if you're in trouble oversea.
Havoc•28m ago
That plus EU missions are obligated to help other EU nationals if they don't have home country representation via their own country
gethly•26m ago
It is very weird list when dozens of countries reside on the same spot in the list. It would make more sense to have levels or ratings, instead of places.
Havoc•26m ago
tbh anything in the top 25% of the listing is more or less the same. You need to travel to some pretty exotic places to hit difference.

Still, the US certainly isn't doing itself any favours on rep lately

NaOH•22m ago
Two days ago:

US Passport Power Falls to Historic Low - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45595746 - Oct 2025 (169 comments)

newswangerd•16m ago
I’ve always argued that the US is the most powerful passport despite not granting access to the most countries for one simple reason: it’s one of only half a dozen passports that lets you visit the US visa free.
zahlman•10m ago
What are the others? Canada, I'm sure, who else?
khuey•5m ago
Bermuda, Palau, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and subject to some rules, the Bahamas and a few British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean.
newswangerd•4m ago
Canada, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. A very weird assortment of countries, aside from Canada.

https://www.passportindex.org/comparebyDestination.php?p1=us...

eddywebs•7m ago
I would argue it's dangerous to be having US passport simply because US historically, has been in wars with of lot of countries and some people of such nations would be ready to kidnap one.
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