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Passport Index 2016

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Re: Passport Index 2016

#221

Post by vacri »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #181
djsumdog wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know quite a few Australians/Kiwis who are able to obtain their British passports. Honestly I think that's worth way more than a US citizenship. They can work and live in any country in the EU, Australia and New Zealand, without a work visa (well for two more years anyway :-P).

> They can work and live in any country in the EU Brexit might well see to that one though. And working in Australia visa free isn't all sunshine and roses, you have to pay full Australian taxes, but get none of the benefits of being an Australian resident or citizen.

> but get none of the benefits of being an Australian resident or citizen.

What, are you barred from going to the beach? :)

Paying full host country taxes isn't a problem unless you're also paying home country taxes.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#222

Post by girvo »

vacri wrote: post #220
girvo wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have dual Australia/New Zealand citizenship, and even that alone is well worth it. Brazil, for example, allows New Zealand passport holders to enter visa-free, but not Australians! https://www.passportindex.org/comparebyPassport.php?p1=nz&p2...

There's not really that much difference between AU and NZ, though it is weird to see that PNG requires a visa for AU, given that AU gives PNG a chunk of aid money.

You're right, there isn't, at least not in this nicely quantified way. Anecdotally, I've been treated much nicer on my NZ passport than my Australian one, even to the same countries (especially France, which I found curious).

Re: Passport Index 2016

#223

Post by vacri »

djsumdog wrote: post #174
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…

The Netherlands doesn't allow for dual citizenship, so you'll have to give up one of your other two :(. But if you're an NL resident, there are plenty of other EU nations that do allow multi-citizenship. Also, there are not "first world" or "third world" countries. Those terms are throwbacks to an era where everything was separated out by communists vs capitalist states. The correct terms today are high income, mid-i…

I once travelled with a woman who had NL, UK, and US passports. She sounded British, identified as Dutch, and travelled on the US passport (she showed me all three). She travelled on the US passport because if you get into trouble, the US will tend to do the "no citizen left behind! rawr!" thing, whereas UK/NL will do the "well, you were pretty fucking stupid to get into that situation, then" thing... (her position, in my words :) )

Re: Passport Index 2016

#224

Post by jahnu »

tuna-piano wrote: post #76
jahnu wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can imagine. When I was in Uzbekistan I met a local man who had studied in the UK and he explained to me how hard it was to travel. I was amazed you needed exit visas for your own country. I thought that stuff died long ago (with the exception of North Korea or so).

Just 90 miles from Key West, Florida there is a country which required strict exit visas until just 3 years ago. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/15/cuba-relaxes-t...

How could I forget! I even visited Cuba about 15 years ago.

No expert on either place but from what little I do know I'd rather live in Cuba. Uzbekistan truly is a police state.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#225

Post by vacri »

Frondo wrote: post #19
invaliduser wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a matter of reciprocity. Look for instance at Gambia: it's visa-free to go there for citizens of countries where Gambian citizen can go visa-free too. this is just how countries managed/refused treaties with each others, based on mutual interests, history, etc

This is pedantic, I know, but also interesting (to me, at least): the country is actually The Gambia, not Gambia. They want the article! And yes, I cringe when I hear news announcers say "The Ukraine" too. :) (They also have an unusually tasteful flag, that manages to represent the geography of the country without looking like a map.)

They can probably get a discount on The Ukraine's unwanted The's, as they only want to be called just 'Ukraine', but English speakers keep on prefixing with 'The'...

Re: Passport Index 2016

#226

Post by Animats »

There's are some multinational passports. There's the European Union laissez-passer.[1] This is issued to European Union officials who travel on EU business, and is accepted as a passport within the EU and by about 100 non-EU countries. There's also a United Nations laissez-passer, for UN officials.[2] That's not as widely accepted as the EU one.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_laissez-passer [2] United Nations laissez-passer

Re: Passport Index 2016

#228

Post by cel1ne »

rwmj wrote: post #65
tuna-piano wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This is why I think the European Union should be more like an actual union. You should be able to subscribe to it, and your membership would grant you a passport, rights and duties. It would solve the whole Brexit issue, because everyone who wanted to remain a member could do so. It wouldn't even be that expensive - we pay about £185/year each at the moment to be in the EU (£13bn/70m people). Edit: Obviously this is…

It's not just work and travel, what about all the taxes, consumer protection laws etc.

How would selling goods be like? An "EU-supermarket" next to the regular one where you have to show your membership to be able to buy?

Re: Passport Index 2016

#229

Post by andrewbinstock »

Frondo wrote: post #19
invaliduser wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a matter of reciprocity. Look for instance at Gambia: it's visa-free to go there for citizens of countries where Gambian citizen can go visa-free too. this is just how countries managed/refused treaties with each others, based on mutual interests, history, etc

This is pedantic, I know, but also interesting (to me, at least): the country is actually The Gambia, not Gambia. They want the article! And yes, I cringe when I hear news announcers say "The Ukraine" too. :) (They also have an unusually tasteful flag, that manages to represent the geography of the country without looking like a map.)

Many languages require articles for countries, with the weirdness that some countries are masculine (e.g., Mexico in French) while others are feminine (e.g., Argentina in Spanish).

I didn't know about the Gambia, but there are others in English, or example "The Czech Republic."

Cool stuff!

Re: Passport Index 2016

#230

Post by jjawssd »

cel1ne wrote: post #228
rwmj wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I think the European Union should be more like an actual union. You should be able to subscribe to it, and your membership would grant you a passport, rights and duties. It would solve the whole Brexit issue, because everyone who wanted to remain a member could do so. It wouldn't even be that expensive - we pay about £185/year each at the moment to be in the EU (£13bn/70m people). Edit: Obviously this is…

It's not just work and travel, what about all the taxes, consumer protection laws etc. How would selling goods be like? An "EU-supermarket" next to the regular one where you have to show your membership to be able to buy?

Very interesting idea... Maybe some set of alternative services for EU subscribers.
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