It's the Age of Asia When It Comes to Passport Power

Using historic data from the Henley Passport Index and the Index of Economic Freedom, political science researchers Uğur Altundal and Ömer Zarpli of Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh, respectively, found that "countries that have higher visa scores also rank higher in economic freedom, especially in investment, financial, and business freedom." Using historic data from theHenley Passport Index  and theIndex of Economic Freedom, political science researchers Uğur...

Using historic data from the Henley Passport Index and the Index of Economic Freedom, political science researchers Uğur Altundal and Ömer Zarpli of Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh, respectively, found that "countries that have higher visa scores also rank higher in economic freedom, especially in investment, financial, and business freedom."

Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners, says: "Our ongoing research has shown that 'passport power' is more than simply the destinations a holder can travel to without a visa. Often, there is a strong correlation between visa freedom and other benefits such as business and investment freedom, independence of the judiciary, fiscal health, and property rights."

While Brexit is – in theory, at least – only weeks away, the focus is firmly on how it will affect migration policy to and from the UK. As Madeleine Sumption from The Migration Observatory at Oxford University notes, "Unlike trade policy, the future of immigration policy in the UK does not depend fundamentally on whether or not the UK leaves the EU with a deal. In either scenario, there will be a 'transitional period' until at least December 2020, in which free movement of EU citizens to the UK will continue more or less as it operates today. After that however, long-term settlement is likely to be much more difficult for EU citizens. And UK citizens who want to move to EU countries after Brexit will also face more restrictive immigration regimes."

The biggest climber on the index over the past quarter has been the UAE, up five places to rank 15^th. Lorraine Charles at Cambridge University'sCentre for Business Research says: "While the UAE may not be able to compete with Saudi Arabia – the regional hegemon – in terms of military strength and economic power, the projection of its soft power is uncontested in the GCC."

As they have done throughout the index's long history, countries offering investment migration programs continue to perform strongly. Moving up from the 16^th-place position it held last quarter, Cyprus now holds 14^th place, with Cypriot citizens able to access 173 destinations visa-free. Malta retains its strong 7^th-place position with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 183, while Antigua and Barbuda has risen to 28^th place with a score of 149 after gaining access to Russia.