Stand tall, Malaysians!
Our passport continues to be one of the world’s best, with Malaysian citizens allowed to travel to 163 countries without a visa. If you’ve gone through the process of applying for a visa, you’ll know how tedious it is.
A global ranking called the Henley & Partners Visa Restriction Index has rated Malaysia as the ninth best out of a total of 219 destination countries, sharing the spot with Malta.
It has retained this position since 2013.
Similarly, Singapore – the only other Southeast Asian country to make it into the top 10 – kept its position at 6th place with its citizens able to travel to 167 countries without a visa.
Other Asian countries such as Japan (170) and South Korea (166) also made it into the top ten, attaining 4th and 7th place respectively.
On the other hand, European countries like Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom peaked at first place with its respective citizens able to travel to 173 countries without a need for visa.
US citizens were at second place, allowed to travel to 172 countries visa-free.
The worst spots on the list were taken by Pakistan and Somalia (91st), Iraq (92nd) and Afghanistan (93rd) with its citizens able to enjoy visa-free travel to only 32, 31 and 28 countries respectively.
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