tbh anything in the top 25% of the listing is more or less the same. You need to travel to some pretty exotic places to hit difference.
Still, the US certainly isn't doing itself any favours on rep lately
US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
11–20 of 108 posts
Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#12[deleted]
Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#13The measure for how “powerful” a passport is: > The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index According to the article, the US passport was at the top of the list a decade ago, last year it was in seventh place, and now it’s in twelfth.
Shared 12th. There are many ties. It is 36th overall, as in 35 countries can go to more places without a visa.
Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#14Two days ago:
US Passport Power Falls to Historic Low - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45595746 - Oct 2025 (169 comments)
Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#15Does this really matter? US is the most powerful country in the world economically and militarily and maybe even culturally.
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Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#16I’ve always argued that the US is the most powerful passport despite not granting access to the most countries for one simple reason: it’s one of only half a dozen passports that lets you visit the US visa free.
Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#17The measure for how “powerful” a passport is: > The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index According to the article, the US passport was at the top of the list a decade ago, last year it was in seventh place, and now it’s in twelfth.
Shared 12th. There are many ties. It is 36th overall, as in 35 countries can go to more places without a visa.
Fair point. To add, last year when it was in 7th it had 25 countries above it. The website only goes as far back as 2016, and at that point it was in 4th place with 10 countries above it.
Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#18I agree that Dual Citizenship is a dream among a large plurality of Americans, but I don’t think it’s for Visa-free tourism. I think it’s because a growing number of Americans feel that the country is unstable and likely headed toward a failed-state status.
Been exploring it in my household for sure.
Same. It's shifted from an escapist fantasy about getting away from it all to a more literal definition of "escapist fantasy". if it weren't for family & friend ties binding us to our geographical area it'd already be a lot more serious. We're not *that* far from a low end FIRE situation, so a move to a more LCOL country could make a ton of sense and escape ... all of this.
Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#19Does this really matter? US is the most powerful country in the world economically and militarily and maybe even culturally.
It's a diplomatic bellwether. It doesn't matter in itself, but it's an interesting indicator of who is the most friendly nation. Note that Singapore leads the list; consider what you know about their foreign policy approach.
Is it in the interests of the US to play nice? Is that even morally correct? Regardless, this is a sign that it's no longer doing so.
Re: US falls out of 10 most powerful passports list for first time in 20 yrs
#20I agree that Dual Citizenship is a dream among a large plurality of Americans, but I don’t think it’s for Visa-free tourism. I think it’s because a growing number of Americans feel that the country is unstable and likely headed toward a failed-state status.
There aren’t that many places out of America’s orbit where you would want to live.
If by failure you mean fascist and authoritarian, America could still reach you.