Passport Inequality
168 Destinations Separate the World's Strongest Passport From Its Weakest
Freedom of movement is treated like a human right, but in practice it is an accident of birth. One passport opens 192 countries visa-free. Another opens 23.
The mobility gap
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Estimated non-refundable Schengen visa fees lost to rejected applications so far this year.
The evidence
The Widest Mobility Gap in History
Singapore's passport gives visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 192 of the world's 227 destinations, the most of any country. Afghanistan's passport, ranked last, opens just 23. The 168-destination gap between them is the widest recorded in the Henley Passport Index's 19-year history, up from a 118-destination gap in 2006 (Henley Passport Index, 2026).
Rejected for Where You Were Born
Schengen visa rejection rates for African applicants climbed from 18.6 percent in 2015 to 26.6 percent in 2024. In 2023, applicants from Comoros were rejected 61.3 percent of the time, Guinea-Bissau 51 percent, and Ghana 47.5 percent, even though African applicants made up just 2.8 percent of all Schengen applications that year (Henley & Partners, Global Mobility Report 2026).
A Regressive Tax on the Poor
Non-refundable Schengen visa fees from rejected applications cost applicants an estimated 145 million dollars in 2024 alone, an 11 percent increase over 2023. Roughly 90 percent of that lost money came from applicants in Africa and Asia, who pay the fee whether or not they are allowed to travel (Henley & Partners, Global Mobility Report 2026).
No Passport At All
At least 4.5 million people worldwide are stateless, holding no nationality and therefore no passport of any strength (UNHCR, end of 2025). Without legal identity, they are often unable to travel, work formally, marry, enroll in school, or access healthcare, and the true number is believed to be far higher than what is officially documented.
An Accident of Birth, Not of Merit
Every one of the ten strongest passports belongs to a high-income country. Every one of the ten weakest belongs to a country shaped by war, poverty, or sanctions, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia. A person's ability to travel for work, education, or family has almost nothing to do with who they are and almost everything to do with where they happened to be born.
Getting Worse, Not Better
Even as trade, travel, and communication grow more global every year, visa reforms introduced between 2024 and 2025, including higher fees, longer processing times, expanded surveillance, and harsher sanctions for overstays, are on track to push rejection rates for low-income applicants even higher (ODI, 2025).
What we can do
Phase 1: force transparency, by pressing destination countries to publish visa rejection rates and reasons broken down by nationality, since the system currently operates with almost no public accountability. Phase 2: end the non-refundable fee as a de facto tax on the poor, by requiring partial refunds or means-tested pricing for rejected low-risk applicants. Phase 3: shrink the gap directly, by expanding mutual visa-waiver and regional free-movement agreements, and by fully funding statelessness resolution so the 4.5 million people with no nationality can finally get one.
Sources: Henley Passport Index 2026, Henley & Partners Global Mobility Report (January 2026), UNHCR, ODI
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