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No visa required

economist.com

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Re: No visa required

#21
post #10

There's a couple of things that surprise me. First, all the countries in the Schengen treaty I think end up with the same score. Indeed France, Germany and Italy do. I would imagine many more do too (e.g. Spain). It seemed like it would have been a better label. On the other hand I am surprised that Denmark got more.. .and it is kind of a counterexample to my first point. Isn't Denmark in the Schengen treaty too? Whe…

Denmark is a member of Schengen, but we also have deals with Sweden and Norway that doesn't even require passports to get there, and I don't imagine I would need a passport to go visit Iceland either.

Re: No visa required

#22
Its great that Britons can travel the world hassle free - must be the remnants of the empire. However, what really matters to people is the opportunity to work and live in a foreign country. I am a Briton living in the US and the difficulty it takes to come to the US is astounding. I had a relatively easy ride but for some the road is long.

Re: No visa required

#23
post #7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd also suspect that another reason is that immigration from Britain was never really an issue anywhere at any point in the history, so there was no reason to limit travel rights of British persons. After all, it was always a modern, industrialized country with English-speaking population, and mostly white (which unfortunately mattered in less enlightened times, not even too long ago).

They had some problems of that nature, as an example in India starting in the 17th century and ending 1947. Other examples can be found readily :)

Yeah, India never really did get over illegal immigration from Britain.

Re: No visa required

#25

This is a rare occasion - Britain at the top of a chart that's measuring something good! I suspect the scope and influence of the empire might be what just pushes us over the top, though I guess that doesn't explain Denmark too well.

The website with the original data is quite confusing, but as far as I understand the UK is only number one since this year. In 2008 and 2009 it was still number 6.

Initially I also thought it must have to do with the empire/commonwealth, but this makes it seem less likely. And yes, why Denmark? It was number one since 2006!

Re: No visa required

#26

This is a rare occasion - Britain at the top of a chart that's measuring something good! I suspect the scope and influence of the empire might be what just pushes us over the top, though I guess that doesn't explain Denmark too well.

And this is only number of countries - it doesn't weight them by importance. So being able to travel to a dozen tiny Caribbean islands offsets not being abke to go visa free to India or china.

Also visa free doesn't mean much - europeans can go to the US without a Visa, you just need to register online in advance, provide all your details and have the airline supply the details of all the other flights you take, your credit card numbers and what kind of meal you had - but no actual visa

Re: No visa required

#28

This is a rare occasion - Britain at the top of a chart that's measuring something good! I suspect the scope and influence of the empire might be what just pushes us over the top, though I guess that doesn't explain Denmark too well.

And this is only number of countries - it doesn't weight them by importance. So being able to travel to a dozen tiny Caribbean islands offsets not being abke to go visa free to India or china. Also visa free doesn't mean much - europeans can go to the US without a Visa, you just need to register online in advance, provide all your details and have the airline supply the details of all the other flights you take, your…

Not all Europeans can go to the US without a Visa. Romanians stills have to apply for a visa and I think that Bulgarians too.

Re: No visa required

#29
post #20
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland has 156 countries (rank 10) The full list is at http://www.henleyglobal.com/citizenship/visa-restrictions/

Switzerland is fairly obnoxious towards immigrants tho' (e.g. it is pretty much impossible to naturalize as Swiss). It should be rights be difficult for Swiss to travel anywhere. I expect their private banking industry is what opens the doors...

I fail to see what traveling has to do with immigration. They're different things.

Re: No visa required

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this is only number of countries - it doesn't weight them by importance. So being able to travel to a dozen tiny Caribbean islands offsets not being abke to go visa free to India or china. Also visa free doesn't mean much - europeans can go to the US without a Visa, you just need to register online in advance, provide all your details and have the airline supply the details of all the other flights you take, your…

Not all Europeans can go to the US without a Visa. Romanians stills have to apply for a visa and I think that Bulgarians too.

Indeed, and this is also true for non-EU Europeans.
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