German citizens are the owners of the world’s most powerful passports, according to the 2016 Visa Restrictions Index.
The study, compiled by firm Henley and Partners, ranked Germany number one for visa-free travel access, meaning the owners of a German passport have one less thing to worry about on trips to 177 countries.
Sweden came in second, with its citizens able to enter 176 out of 218 countries without having to apply for a visa in advance.
Third place was slightly crowded, with Finnish, French, Italian, Spanish and British citizens all having visa-free access to 175 countries.
This year South Africa took 54th place on the Index, with the passport providing access to 97 countries visa-free out of a possible 218.
While this may seem as if the African nation has poor global mobility, a South African citizen can increase their position by acquiring dual citizenship.
One route to obtaining dual citizenship is through a citizenship-by-investment program.
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Antigua and Barbuda, which runs the most successful citizenship-by-investment program in the Caribbean, provides visa-free travel to 134 countries around the world and is thus an appealing location for investors.
A South African citizen interested in obtaining dual citizenship with Antigua and Barbuda, would add 55 new countries in which they could travel to visa-free.
This means that by having both South African and Antigua and Barbuda passports, one could travel to a total of 152 countries, ranking themselves 22nd on the Index, the same as Andorra and Argentina. This combined passport will provide access to countries previously hampered by lengthy and costly visa application processes, including most European countries and Canada.
Dual citizenship with South Africa and Malta would increase your ranking to 3rd on the Index – increasing by 51 places – and adding a massive 78 countries to your existing South African visa-free travel list to give you a new total of 175 countries if carrying both passports.
This means your passport would be the equivalent of the UK’s, and it would be stronger than the US, Canada, and several European countries including Belgium, Austria, Portugal, and Switzerland, among others.
