South Africa’s passport has dropped in the latest Henley and Partners World Rankings, with the country losing visa-free access to Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Henley Passport Index compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When no visa is required, a score of 1 is given to the passport. This also applies to those who can obtain a visa on arrival (VOA), a visitor\u2019s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a visa or e-visa is required before departure, a score of 0 is assigned. This also applies to those who need pre-departure government approval for a visa on arrival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, Singapore has the best passport in the world, allowing for access to 193 countries without a visa. Japan and South Korea follow with visa-free access to 190 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa has dropped further down the rankings. Since the start of the year, South Africa has fallen from 48 to 50 and now 51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South African passport holders can currently enter 103 countries without a passport, a drop from 104 in the previous ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, South Africa has lost visa-free access to Nigeria. This is notable as South Africa and Nigeria are two of the largest economies in Africa and have had strong cultural and economic ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a large Nigerian diaspora in South Africa, while several South African companies have significant presences in Nigeria, especially MTN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest visa development in Nigeria is the launch of e-Visas, Landing, and Exit Cards. This is a new barcode-enabled system that aims to strengthen border control and data intelligence in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It forms part of a wider push to clamp down on illicit travel and to strengthen Nigeria’s national security, it said. The country has warned airlines against bringing passengers without valid documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
E-visas are easier-access visas, but not as easy as visa on arrival or visa-free access, which the H&P index covers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the drop in visa-free access, South Africa has now also dropped out of the top 50 passports in the world, and is placed between Qatar and Belize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although South African passports have dropped in the Henley and Partners’ Index rankings, the 51st position is much better than the Nomad Capitalist\u2019s rankings, where South Africa came 100th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nomad Capitalist is a tax and immigration consultancy, and its rankings reveal that South Africans face severely limited visa-free travel, a poor global perception and limited freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nomad Capitalist\u2019s rankings go beyond visa-free access and look at five essential aspects of passport strength:<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa tied with Ecuador in the rankings, with a total score of 68.50. This is well below Ireland, which scored 109.0, and has the strongest passport in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa’s overall score did improve from 67 in 2024, but this was not enough to change its position in Nomad Capitalist\u2019s ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n * Visa on Arrival\/ETA<\/p>\n\n\n\n Americas <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Asia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Caribbean<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Middle East <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oceania <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The South African passport has dropped in the latest Henley and Partners’ passport rankings after losing easy access to a major African country. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":828487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[12238,14973],"class_list":["post-828441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-henley-and-partners","tag-nomad-capitalist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828441"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828509,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828441\/revisions\/828509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Rank<\/strong><\/td> Country<\/strong><\/td> Visa-free access<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> 1<\/td> Sinagpore<\/td> 193<\/td><\/tr> =2<\/td> Japan
South Korea<\/td>190<\/td><\/tr> =3<\/td> Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Spain<\/td>189<\/td><\/tr> …<\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr> 49<\/td> Turkiy\u00eb
Russia<\/td>114<\/td><\/tr> 50<\/td> Qatar<\/td> 112<\/td><\/tr> 51<\/td> South Africa<\/td> 103<\/td><\/tr> 52<\/td> Belize<\/td> 102<\/td><\/tr> 53<\/td> Kuwait<\/td> 98<\/td><\/tr> …<\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr> 102<\/td> Syria<\/td> 27<\/td><\/tr> 103<\/td> Afghanistan<\/td> 25<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>
\n\n\n\nChanges in the system<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\n\n\nThe 103 countries where South Africans don’t need a visa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Angola<\/td><\/tr> Benin<\/td><\/tr> Botswana<\/td><\/tr> Burundi<\/td><\/tr> Cape Verde Islands<\/td><\/tr> Comoro Islands<\/td><\/tr> Djibouti<\/td><\/tr> Ethiopia<\/td><\/tr> Egypt<\/td><\/tr> eSwatini<\/td><\/tr> Gabon<\/td><\/tr> Ghana<\/td><\/tr> Guinea-Bissau<\/td><\/tr> Kenya<\/td><\/tr> Lesotho<\/td><\/tr> Madagascar<\/td><\/tr> Malawi<\/td><\/tr> Mauritius<\/td><\/tr> Mozambique<\/td><\/tr> Namibia<\/td><\/tr> Reunion<\/td><\/tr> Rwanda<\/td><\/tr> Senegal<\/td><\/tr> Seychelles<\/td><\/tr> Sierra Leone<\/td><\/tr> Somalia<\/td><\/tr> Tanzania<\/td><\/tr> The Gambia<\/td><\/tr> Tunisia<\/td><\/tr> Zambia<\/td><\/tr> Zimbabwe<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCountry<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Argentina<\/td><\/tr> Belize<\/td><\/tr> Bolivia*<\/td><\/tr> Brazil<\/td><\/tr> Chile<\/td><\/tr> Costa Rica<\/td><\/tr> Ecuador<\/td><\/tr> El Salvador<\/td><\/tr> Falkland Islands<\/td><\/tr> Guatemala<\/td><\/tr> Guyana<\/td><\/tr> Honduras<\/td><\/tr> Nicaragua<\/td><\/tr> Panama<\/td><\/tr> Paraguay<\/td><\/tr> Peru<\/td><\/tr> Uruguay<\/td><\/tr> Venezuela<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCountry<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Cambodia*<\/td><\/tr> Hong Kong (SAR China)<\/td><\/tr> Indonesia<\/td><\/tr> Kyrgyzstan*<\/td><\/tr> Laos*<\/td><\/tr> Malaysia<\/td><\/tr> Maldives*<\/td><\/tr> Macao (SAR China)<\/td><\/tr> Nepal*<\/td><\/tr> Philippines<\/td><\/tr> Singapore<\/td><\/tr> Sri Lanka*<\/td><\/tr> Tajikistan*<\/td><\/tr> Thailand<\/td><\/tr> Timor-Leste*<\/td><\/tr> South Korea**<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCountry<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Antigua and Barbuda<\/td><\/tr> Bahamas<\/td><\/tr> Barbados<\/td><\/tr> British Virgin Islands<\/td><\/tr> Cayman Islands<\/td><\/tr> Dominica<\/td><\/tr> Dominican Republic<\/td><\/tr> Grenada<\/td><\/tr> Haiti<\/td><\/tr> Jamaica<\/td><\/tr> Montserrat<\/td><\/tr> St. Helena*<\/td><\/tr> St. Kitts and Nevis<\/td><\/tr> St. Lucia<\/td><\/tr> St. Vincent and the Grenadines<\/td><\/tr> Trinidad and Tobago<\/td><\/tr> Turks and Caicos<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCountry<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Georgia<\/td><\/tr> Kosovo<\/td><\/tr> Russian Federation<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCountry<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Armenia*<\/td><\/tr> Iran*<\/td><\/tr> Israel*<\/td><\/tr> Jordan*<\/td><\/tr> Oman<\/td><\/tr> Palestine<\/td><\/tr> Qatar<\/td><\/tr> Saudi Arabia*<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCountry<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Cook Islands<\/td><\/tr> Fiji<\/td><\/tr> Kiribati<\/td><\/tr> Marshall Islands*<\/td><\/tr> Micronesia<\/td><\/tr> Niue<\/td><\/tr> Palau Islands*<\/td><\/tr> Samoa*<\/td><\/tr> Tuvalu*<\/td><\/tr> Vanuatu<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"