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Passport Index 2016

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Re: Passport Index 2016

#161

Post by jacalata »

Cyph0n wrote: post #73
sevenless wrote: post #42

Is there a guide to multiple citizenship power leveling anywhere? Edit: A bit of munging from the web page later... For Americans and British/Western Europe, the passports you want are Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal. They will bring your passport power level up by 13 points to 168 (American) and 170 (UK) and give you visa free access to Cote Divoire (Ivory Coast), Mali, Iran, Congo, Niger, Benin, Nigeria, Liberia, C…

I have Australia/Tunisia/USA, but I haven't looked up the total number of countries I can enter visa-free. Tunisia gives me visa-free entry to Turkey and a few African countries, but not much else. I'm looking to emigrate to a European country once I finish my studies in the hopes of getting a 4th passport - anyone know if that's possible in the EU? I know that Sweden, my top choice, only allows dual citizenship. Sou…

As I understand it, countries tend to either allow multiple citizenships or one citizenship - if they let you have two, then you can go and and get 17 as far as they care. So Sweden is probably fine, although you should check with them. My sister has US/Australia/UK and my brother is on track to have UK/Australia/France now that Brexit makes it worth his while to apply for the French.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#162

Post by nstj »

tuna-piano wrote: post #34
hal9000xp wrote: post #28

I had citizenship of one most repressive and poor countries in the world - Uzbekistan. Later I obtained Russian citizenship. Now, I'm living in the Netherlands and plan to obtain citizenship of some first world country (NL, SG etc). So I have first hand experience to live with Uzbek passport and being practically completely isolated from the first world (nobody give you EU tourist visa if you have Uzbek passport and…

I've often thought of the dollar value of my US passport (/citizenship). It would definitely be my most valuable asset (then again, taxes are by far my biggest expense). Besides almost unrestricted travel - my income is far higher in the US than it would be in any other country I've looked at. It's easy to forget how lucky those of us in the developed world are and how so many try so hard to gain status here. Good lu…

Warren Buffett describes being born in the USA as having won "the ovarian lottery" which sounds about right, as you've described it.

[0]: http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-on-the-ovarian...

Re: Passport Index 2016

#163

Post by wildmusings »

charlesism wrote: post #118
wildmusings wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Immigration policy isn't for your convenience as a foreigner. It's made solely for the benefit of the people who already live there, as it should be.

"As it should be" kind of rubs me the wrong way. The world is the way it is, not because it's the best of all possible worlds, but through a bunch of historical accidents.

You wouldn't want to live in a world where you were subject to the majority rule of the entire human race, which seems to be the logical conclusion of your reasoning on this.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#164

Post by Aloha »

noobermin wrote: post #144
Aloha wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think anyone who wants to come to this country to become one of us should be able to, provided they; Can pass the citizenship test. Can speak english at a conversational or better level. Can afford a more than nominal sum for a visa (1500-5000 dollars). Can pass a criminal history check of some sort. Doing so would get you a 5 year work visa, after the expiration of that, you could renew it again, and after that, y…

I agree with the citizenship test and the criminal history test. I think English at a conversational level is good too for practical reasons but that matched with the visa sum would select for more wealthy and hence educated immigrants. That isn't an issue, but given that many illegal aliens are filling unskilled jobs that Americans are unwilling to fill seems to suggest to me that the general desire is for unskilled…

I believe if we passed these rules, you'd see schools open just on the other side of the border. But, my idea is that it would be accompanied by a guest worker program, that would allow someone to come for say, 8 out of a rolling 12 year period.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#165

Post by andyidsinga »

noobermin wrote: post #99
andyidsinga wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure religion is so much of a choice. I grew up in a household of a particular religion that my parents imposed and even though I don't really identify what that religion anymore it was a very strong influence on me until my mid-20s. Even when I didn't identify with it internally, I still said i was a ______. IMO, It's extremely hard to find an alternative and maybe even harder for one to say they're agnostic…

And the fact that you were able to separate from said religion is probably made easier by the society you live in. In some cultures, the religion is synonymous with cultural identity, if not at least a central part of it.

very true!

Re: Passport Index 2016

#166

Post by flurdy »

Cyph0n wrote: post #73
sevenless wrote: post #42

Is there a guide to multiple citizenship power leveling anywhere? Edit: A bit of munging from the web page later... For Americans and British/Western Europe, the passports you want are Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal. They will bring your passport power level up by 13 points to 168 (American) and 170 (UK) and give you visa free access to Cote Divoire (Ivory Coast), Mali, Iran, Congo, Niger, Benin, Nigeria, Liberia, C…

I have Australia/Tunisia/USA, but I haven't looked up the total number of countries I can enter visa-free. Tunisia gives me visa-free entry to Turkey and a few African countries, but not much else. I'm looking to emigrate to a European country once I finish my studies in the hopes of getting a 4th passport - anyone know if that's possible in the EU? I know that Sweden, my top choice, only allows dual citizenship. Sou…

Don't make the mistake that got Swedish ice hockey player Ulf Samuelsson ejected from the 1998 olympics as he had received a US citizenship and should have surrendered his Swedish citizenship [0]. Though I see they allow dual citizenship since 2003.

Check the specific rules. For instance I know Norway don't allow dual citizenship, with one exception if parents are from different countries. Hence my kids have Norwegian and British passports.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulf_Samuelsson#International_p...

Re: Passport Index 2016

#167

Post by Aloha »

noobermin wrote: post #139
Aloha wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you asked those same old white and rural people a century ago.. well wait - they would have largely been freshly immigrated from Scandenavia or Germany. This divide has existed as long as the united states has existed - and it will exist as long as there is immigration - this pressure exists to ensure that too much immigration doesnt happen, and that the melting pot can keep up. That said, we're the only country i…

>somewhat nebulous american ideals The constitution and the philosophy espoused in the declaration of independence are perhaps open to interpretation but it's not that nebulous. I do agree you saying "somewhat" could either be sarcasm or you could literally mean that the "American ideals" are just somewhat nebulous other than totally arbitrary.

What constitutes the whole of american ideals is somewhat nebulous is what I was saying. I value american ideals, but my concept of what american ideals mean - outside of a few very key items - may vary widely from another person my age, with a similar background.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#168

Post by uola »

noobermin wrote: post #152
honkhonkpants wrote: post #145

Let's comment on the visual design of passports. These are all basically the same, except two that stand out: Switzerland, and The Vatican. The latter is very typically Swiss, with an attractive, simple, and modern design. The former is sinister and mysterious, but also quite distinctive. Honorable mention to Brazil and Bosnia for having passports without a coat of arms type of thing on the front.

The Swiss benefit from having a flag with a moniker that is simple and instantly recognizable and fits very well in something similar to today's minimalist designs. The others who use coat-of-arms-like designs can't. To be fair, I had to search for the Vatican and Switzerland, so they didn't stand out to me. The most noticeable was Brazil's with a "design" (at least a line) that fills the whole cover. It might have h…

As far as I know the cross is technically the coat of arms, which probably has to do with the whole confederation thing. Passports do usually have quite different backgrounds inside, but generally you of course want them to be as recognizable as possible.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#169

Post by mthoms »

DanBC wrote: post #124
mthoms wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You get to bypass the regular folk and use the diplomatic lane for processing. Holders don't require Visas in many countries and some versions of the passport carry diplomatic privileges (including immunity). I'm sure there are other perks akin to having a diplomatic passport from whereveristan, but with the added weight that it's issued by the UN.

The link you provided doesn't say that though. > Most countries do not accept a UNLP as a travel document, unless a visa has been added. and most people with the blue passport don't get diplomatic immunity - that's limited to a few people with the right visas and the red version. > Most officials hold a blue UNLP (up to D-1 level), which is similar in legal status to a service passport (however, diplomatic status may…

What a bizarre thing to wish to argue nuances about. I just thought the passport was neat, had cachet and I really like the idea of being a "Citizen of Earth". I'm actually sorry I even mentioned it. But since you wish to be pedantic:

I said that holders don't require Visas in many countries - According to the second paragraph of the Wiki link there are at least 29 countries. This qualifies as many.

I also said "You get to bypass the regular folk and use the diplomatic lane for processing" - As per the Wiki link, it's considered equivalent to a "Service Passport". This allows processing through diplomatic lanes at airports that have them. Further reference is here: https://books.google.ca/books?id=RpIDDAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA508&ots=...

Lastly, I said "some versions …carry diplomatic privileges (including immunity)". Here is a chart with some more details (see "International Organizations section"): http://www.slogold.net/diplomatic_immunity.html It clearly says support staff enjoy immunity for official acts and higher ranking officials (with the red version of UNLP) enjoy full immunity.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#170

Post by Jacqued »

donretag wrote: post #153
sevenless wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same way the web site does. The number of countries a person holding both passports could visit visa-free.

It did not realize the website already calculated that number. My combined number is 159, an increase of only 3 from my third ranked passport.

I counted it myself too until I realized the website provided that.

My second citizenship adds 6 countries to my first, for a total of 163. These 6 include Yemen, Syria, Rwanda, Mali, Guinea and my second country itself, so I guess at the moment it probably only counts as a +4, really.

However, if I were to travel to one of those countries, I think I'd rather apply for a visa with my European passport, to make sure I can request assistance from the consulate should anything happen.

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