Wow North Korea has more rank than a good 15/20 countries!
Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
91–100 of 116 posts
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#92The number of countries that you can enter without a visa might not be the best metric. For example, if you have a US or Signapore passport, you might be able to enter a lot of countries without a visa, but Brazil is not one of them. Brazil is obviously a hugely important country, so that seems like a notable disadvantage. EU citizens can enter Brazil without a visa. Additionally, there are several countries that hav…
> Additionally, there are several countries that have special (higher) visa fees for processing US passports.
That's true, but a lot of it is because they mirror how much the US charges their citizens. So a US tourist visa is $160 for 1 to 10 years (and between 1 and multiple stays up to six months).
So if US citizens think it is "unfair" that they have to pay more to apply for visas abroad, then ask your own government to reduce visa application fees.
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess that is what I mean when I say I am ambivalent; I agree that the situation you point out is absurd, but on the other side of it I actually don't care that the US demanded taxes from the wealthy mayor of London.
Can you imagine the shitstorm that would happen if it was the other way around say a very high profile US politician being hit with a demand from HMRC - Fox news would go ballistic and demand that you invade Canada again.
Yeah, I think I can imagine it, but think I still wouldn't care about it.
If Canada sent Ted Cruz a tax bill, I'd be amused. And I'd expect him to pay it (because he probably would like to visit there without hassle in the future).
Which doesn't mean I think it is good policy (from the replies I got you'd think I was loudly praising the United States of the IRS), but I can also estimate how much I am actually personally going to do about it over the next several decades.
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#94The number of countries that you can enter without a visa might not be the best metric. For example, if you have a US or Signapore passport, you might be able to enter a lot of countries without a visa, but Brazil is not one of them. Brazil is obviously a hugely important country, so that seems like a notable disadvantage. EU citizens can enter Brazil without a visa. Additionally, there are several countries that hav…
China, Russia, India, Indonesia (With VOA) also require visas for Americans, often with retaliatory fees for the visa (they charge us what we charge them). I was surprised that I need a visa to go to austrailia, out of all places, though at least we can do it online...
In case you were unaware, nobody (other than US citizens and Canadians) can get into the United States without a 'visa' of some kind. Even if you're from the United Kingdom for example, you still need an ESTA, which although it isn't called a 'visa', is required prior to travel like a visa and costs a fee like a visa.
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> "I was surprised that I need a visa to go to austrailia, out of all places" Why?
Considering the ANZUS treaty, it is odd that US tourists need a visa to visit Australia. Especially since Gillard said, "Australia does not forget" in reference to Coral Sea.
It's also odd that Australians need a 'visa' to visit the US for the same reasons. Yet we still need ESTAs (which are essentially the same as the electronic visas Americans require).
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#96This seems to only consider the number of countries one can travel to without a visa as a tourist. So it doesn't consider the ability to move to or work/study at another country.
It's really an exception if you can work/study at another country without a visa/residence permit. A more relevant question is whether you can make a business trip, or act as a journalist, without a visa. For instance, ESTA for a tourist in the USA is an easy thing, but if the same person wants to come for a few weeks and work as a journalist, e.g. make interviews, then the visa process is very very different. The USA does not offer that much freedom for foreign press, really.
A zone of visa-free exceptions has been created in the Schengen area, but even there you'll need to apply for a work permit for longer stints (and the host country is obliged to give it to citizens of other Schengen countries, with some exceptions).
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you imagine the shitstorm that would happen if it was the other way around say a very high profile US politician being hit with a demand from HMRC - Fox news would go ballistic and demand that you invade Canada again.
Yeah, I think I can imagine it, but think I still wouldn't care about it. If Canada sent Ted Cruz a tax bill, I'd be amused. And I'd expect him to pay it (because he probably would like to visit there without hassle in the future). Which doesn't mean I think it is good policy (from the replies I got you'd think I was loudly praising the United States of the IRS), but I can also estimate how much I am actually persona…
No man is an island - and if they can screw over rich people guess what's going to happen to the little people.
You seriously don't think the principle of equality before the law is worth fighting for?
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I think I can imagine it, but think I still wouldn't care about it. If Canada sent Ted Cruz a tax bill, I'd be amused. And I'd expect him to pay it (because he probably would like to visit there without hassle in the future). Which doesn't mean I think it is good policy (from the replies I got you'd think I was loudly praising the United States of the IRS), but I can also estimate how much I am actually persona…
No man is an island - and if they can screw over rich people guess what's going to happen to the little people. You seriously don't think the principle of equality before the law is worth fighting for?
Are you talking about taxing expats? Or my example, which I meant to take place in a hypothetical world where Canada has a law taxing non resident citizens?
(Cruz really was a dual citizen of the US and Canada until last year...)
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
I will tell you exactly how the world works. You have poor people in poor countries working crazy hours in slave-like conditions. Then the rich countries and businesses come out and say "oh, but they are better off because at least thanks to our money they have jobs". And western consumers get cheap products and then get to bitch about minimum wage and equality. If you really cared for equality, you'd open borders fo…
FUCK a truly open and free market. all it leads to is catastrophe, as witnessed over and over. a well regulated market, taking into account externalities like the environment, population density, cultural barriers, etc. is in the best interest of humanity. it was the capitalists that brought in massive immigration into europe, without asking the native population. with no plan for integration, balance. super results.
s/Europe/America/
Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
No man is an island - and if they can screw over rich people guess what's going to happen to the little people. You seriously don't think the principle of equality before the law is worth fighting for?
Are you talking about taxing expats? Or my example, which I meant to take place in a hypothetical world where Canada has a law taxing non resident citizens? (Cruz really was a dual citizen of the US and Canada until last year...)
err its a reference to the war of 1812-1815 - give its the 200th anniversary this year.
Its about the fact that dual nationals get taxed by the IRS