The 19 countries with the most powerful passports
These stark differences are revealed in the Passport Index, which ranks countries based on the number of nations where residents can go without purchasing a visa in advance or on arrival. The global financial advisory firm Arton Capital compiled government data from 193 countries and six territories to create the 2017 ranking.
The US makes the top 15, but that could change over the next four years under the Trump administration, according to Arton Capital CEO John Hanafin. If US foreign-policy relations sour with other countries, like Mexico and Germany, visa-free agreements could freeze or break, which would damage passport power for Americans.
The European Commission recently told the Wall Street Journal that it will not impose visas on American travelers after the US excluded five EU countries from its no-visa list, however.
Here are the 19 countries with the highest-ranking passports.
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