Nepal’s passport 7th weakest in the world, ranked 106th out of 112 nations

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s passport has been ranked among the weakest in the world.

In an indication of the declining strength of the nation’s official travel document, the Henley Passport Index, in its latest report released this week, ranked Nepal’s passport 106th out of a total of 112 positions. A decade ago, in 2012, Nepal’s position was 98 and five years ago, in 2017, it was 97.

Furthermore, Nepal’s current rank is the same as the Palestinian Territory, a state that is not a full member of the United Nations, and one rank below North Korea, a country against which the United Nations Security Council has passed nearly a dozen resolutions of sanctions since 2006.

As per the Index, which is a ranking of the world’s passports based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, Nepali passport only provides visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 38 countries, well below the global average of 107 and less than all of its SAARC peers except Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This lack of strength may stem from a number of factors including income, conflict, organised crime and political stability, according to Henley and Partners, that global citizenship and residence advisory headquartered in the UK that released the Henley Passport Index.