Georgia takes 51st place in Henley Passport index
Georgian passport holders now enjoy visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 114 destinations. Photo: N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Georgia goes into the new year holding 51st place on the Henley Passport index, with citizens enjoying visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 114 destinations – two countries more than in 2018.
The Henley Passport Index is the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without first getting a visa.
Georgia’s Foreign Ministry considers collaboration with other countries a priority and signed travel procedure agreements with six countries in 2018. Some of them are already in force while with other negotiations continue, which should be reflected in next year’s report.
Based on the agreements signed in 2018 (with Thailand, Serbia, Paraguay) and following the internal procedures (with Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania) visa-free travel was made possible for ordinary (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania) and diplomatic (Paraguay, Thailand) Georgian passport holders.
As for Georgia’s neighbouring countries Armenia ranks 79 (access to 61 destinations), Azerbaijan – 74 (66 destinations), Turkey – 52 (111 destinations), Russia 48 (119 destinations).
The Baltic States, formerly part of the Soviet Union, are included in the top-20.
The ranking is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most comprehensive database of travel information and is enhanced by extensive in-house research.
The Henley Passport Index is updated in real-time, as and when visa-policy changes come into effect.
The stories and impressions of seven million visitors to Georgia have been united in one guidebook that was launched within the new campaign ‘Emotions are Georgia’ to help new tourists discover Georgia as seen through the eyes of former visitors.
The NAPR has already completed its field work to chart and photograph all major locations in Tbilisi as a part of the project aiming to create a national database for Georgia and integrate it in leading navigation systems worldwide, such as Google and TomTom.
This time last year, a small Georgian delegation led by Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili left for a historic trip on which Georgians travelled visa-free for the first time to the European Union (EU).
The Georgian passport now holds the 50th place in the Henley Passport Index, which ranks all the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free.
President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic accepted Georgian PM"s invitation to visit Georgia in the near future and also invited Mamuka Bakhtadze to Montenegro. The two leaders met at the 55th Munich Security Conference.
Georgian citizens residing abroad will be able to receive passports for free in May. Georgians living abroad with expired passports should appeal to diplomatic representations or consulates of Georgia for registration.
Georgian and Paraguayan Foreign Ministers, David Zalkaliani and Antonio Rivas Palacios signed a visa-free travel agreement for citizens holding ordinary passports.
Georgia has taken 53rd place in the Henley Passport index, with citizens enjoying visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 116 destinations, two countries more than in 2019.