World’s Most Powerful Passports in 2021

tdf7187

I thought this was interesting (see link below).

While most people aren't needing their passports in current times, it seems that the Irish passport is among the most internationally recognised, meaning that an Irish passport will get you a visa to enter most countries without undue difficulty. I would guess that during the Troubles, the Irish passport didn't hold such sway but I assume surveys of this type were not conducted back then.

I would imagine that us being part of the EU gives us an advantage. The EU is viewed as an oasis of relative stability internationally.

Thoughts?

https://www.novinite.com/articles/207503/World%E2%80%99s+Most+Powerful+Passports+in+2021

rossie1977

Now we ask what are the 5 countries that don't accept an Irish passport but do a Japanese one

Helmet

rossie1977 wrote: »

Now we ask what are the 5 countries that don't accept an Irish passport but do a Japanese one

In 2004 I was travelling from Malaysia to Bali. I was using a battered old Lonely Planet to get around. According to the LP you didn't need a visa for Indonesia if you had an EU passport. I wound up being turned back at the airport. It turned out that after the Bali bombing in 2002 any country that was seen as harbouring a paramilitary group needed to apply for a visa. I wound up staying an extra week in Kuala Lumpur while the visa was being processed. I've no idea if it's still like that?

Witchie

Helmet wrote: »

In 2004 I was travelling from Malaysia to Bali. I was using a battered old Lonely Planet to get around. According to the LP you didn't need a visa for Indonesia if you had an EU passport. I wound up being turned back at the airport. It turned out that after the Bali bombing in 2002 any country that was seen as harbouring a paramilitary group needed to apply for a visa. I wound up staying an extra week in Kuala Lumpur while the visa was being processed. I've no idea if it's still like that?

Absolutely not. I live most of the year in KL and go to Bali usually once a year, missed last year for obvious reasons, but I just get a visa on arrival.

Same with most places or have to apply for a esta style online one for Vietnam and India and a few other places.

I am entitled to a British passport too and am thinking of applying for it as a back up as some countries, such as India have longer stay times or easier rules for British passports. Not that I ever intend to go to India again. Hate the place with a passion.

TheValeyard

Did we not have this exact same thread yesterday or am I having deja vu?

The J Stands for Jay

Helmet wrote: »

In 2004 I was travelling from Malaysia to Bali. I was using a battered old Lonely Planet to get around. According to the LP you didn't need a visa for Indonesia if you had an EU passport. I wound up being turned back at the airport. It turned out that after the Bali bombing in 2002 any country that was seen as harbouring a paramilitary group needed to apply for a visa. I wound up staying an extra week in Kuala Lumpur while the visa was being processed. I've no idea if it's still like that?

Was 8t an Irish or a UK passport? There's probably loads of EU countries that could be said to harbour paramilitaries.

joseywhales

Bizarre that the former axis powers are some of the highest ranked. Like if I was korean or Chinese, would I ever want to see another japanese person again after ww2, comfort women/ live biological weapon testing/ treatment of prisoners etc.

HBC08

joseywhales wrote: »

Bizarre that the former axis powers are some of the highest ranked. Like if I was korean or Chinese, would I ever want to see another japanese person again after ww2, comfort women/ live biological weapon testing/ treatment of prisoners etc.

The Koreans dislike the Japanese the same way Irish people might dislike the brits.The comfort women is the biggest issue over all the rest,it's a really sensitive subject over there.

Helmet

McGaggs wrote: »

Was 8t an Irish or a UK passport? There's probably loads of EU countries that could be said to harbour paramilitaries.

Irish. I remember being told at the time that it was basically ourselves, Spain and Israel?

Quantum Erasure

TheValeyard wrote: »

Did we not have this exact same thread yesterday or am I having deja vu?

The only people who love Irish passport more than Irish people are the Israel's :<

theguzman

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

The only people who love Irish passport more than Irish people are the Israel's :<

Why is this anti-Semitism allowed?

Hamsterchops

The Israeli's, why so?

tdf7187

theguzman wrote: »

Why is this anti-Semitism allowed?

It's certainly a bit strange that some posters' first reaction is to bring up the issue of Israeli spies (occasionally) travelling on Irish passports. (this also happened in the closed thread).

Gregor Samsa

rossie1977 wrote: »

Now we ask what are the 5 countries that don't accept an Irish passport but do a Japanese one

It's not a straight 5 country difference - there's some countries you can get into Visa free with an Irish passport, but not a Japanese one.

You can see the lists of visa free and visa required access for any country's passport here:

https://www.henleypassportindex.com/passport

Strumms

Prior to the peace process and a couple of years after an Irish passport could be a hindrance especially going to the UK and returning...twice it enabled me to getting taken aside for 10 minutes for ‘a chat’..

titan18

Imo, we also get better treatment than a lot of other nationalities when travelling. We're not really hated anywhere like as people mentioned Japanese are in some countries, or Americans would be in lots of areas.

ohnonotgmail

Hamsterchops wrote: »

The Israeli's, why so?

an israeli hit team traveled on stolen Irish passports.

beachhead

Helmet wrote: »

In 2004 I was travelling from Malaysia to Bali. I was using a battered old Lonely Planet to get around. According to the LP you didn't need a visa for Indonesia if you had an EU passport. I wound up being turned back at the airport. It turned out that after the Bali bombing in 2002 any country that was seen as harbouring a paramilitary group needed to apply for a visa. I wound up staying an extra week in Kuala Lumpur while the visa was being processed. I've no idea if it's still like that?

A UK(when it was EU)passport gets you into Indonesia no problem currently

beachhead

theguzman wrote: »

Why is this anti-Semitism allowed?

I like your name guzman

beachhead

Strumms wrote: »

Prior to the peace process and a couple of years after an Irish passport could be a hindrance especially going to the UK and returning...twice it enabled me to getting taken aside for 10 minutes for ‘a chat’..

Get off a plane from a third country and you would not be asked to have a hat.Don't think for a minute that the chatter didn't know exactly who you were and the purpose of travel

rapul

tdf7187 wrote: »

It's certainly a bit strange that some posters' first reaction is to bring up the issue of Israeli spies (occasionally) travelling on Irish passports. (this also happened in the closed thread).

Not anti semitism if its true, can't use that card anymore calling out the truth about Israel

ohnonotgmail

tdf7187 wrote: »

It's certainly a bit strange that some posters' first reaction is to bring up the issue of Israeli spies (occasionally) travelling on Irish passports. (this also happened in the closed thread).

Nothing strange. It was big news at the time and it has stuck in peoples minds.

I was born and raised in London when plane hijacking was all the rage.

Not a hope that my parents would let me or my siblings have a British passport. If any or all of us were on a plane together and the hijackers asked all the passengers for their passports, the British and Americans would be taken to one side. The Irish would be given a wink and released first

AndyBoBandy

I know that now in Europe, an Irish passport is the most powerful to have in that it allows the holder unfettered access to live and work in any EU country as well as the U.K.

(I manage various teams of engineers, and I'm currently looking at a 4-8 week lead time to get some UK guys a Work Permit to go to Greece to do a 2-3 day job!!)

AnTarbh

theguzman wrote: »

Why is this anti-Semitism allowed?

What anti-semitism?

Peregrinus

rapul wrote: »

Not anti semitism if its true, can't use that card anymore calling out the truth about Israel

Exactly the same is true of the US - they used stolen Irish passports to get their own agents into Iran. But if someone mentions the Israeli use every bloody time passports are ever discussed, but never brings up the US use and either isn't aware of it or has simply forgotten it, I'm struggling to think of an explantion that doesn't start with "anti-" and end with "-semitism".

(The use of Irish passports to travel without attracting hostile scrutiny is itself testament to the relatively high value of an Irish passport as a widely accepted and welcomed travel document.)

timmyntc

theguzman wrote: »

Why is this anti-Semitism allowed?

Criticism of Israel != Anti-Semitism.

Also its a fact that Mossad "hit-squads" were travelling on (forged?) Irish passports

timmyntc

Peregrinus wrote: »

Exactly the same is true of the US - they used stolen Irish passports to get their own agents into Iran. But if someone mentions the Israeli use every bloody time passports are ever discussed, but never brings up the US use and either isn't aware of it or has simply forgotten it, I'm struggling to think of an explantion that doesn't start with "anti-" and end with "-semitism".

(The use of Irish passports to travel without attracting hostile scrutiny is itself testament to the relatively high value of an Irish passport as a widely accepted and welcomed travel document.)

I certainly was never aware of it - when was this? Was it a big news story?

Peregrinus

timmyntc wrote: »

I certainly was never aware of it - when was this? Was it a big news story?

It was Colonel Oliver North, no less, who used a (fake) Irish passport to enter Iran. Younger readers may wish to google "Oliver North" but, be assured, he was a very, very big story at one time.

The fact that he had used an Irish passport didn't emerge until some time after the rest of the Iran-Contra story broke, and it was a relatively small detail of a very large and sensational story.

Real Life

Peregrinus wrote: »

Exactly the same is true of the US - they used stolen Irish passports to get their own agents into Iran. But if someone mentions the Israeli use every bloody time passports are ever discussed, but never brings up the US use and either isn't aware of it or has simply forgotten it, I'm struggling to think of an explantion that doesn't start with "anti-" and end with "-semitism".

(The use of Irish passports to travel without attracting hostile scrutiny is itself testament to the relatively high value of an Irish passport as a widely accepted and welcomed travel document.)

How about criticising a country, particularly their government and how they run things has nothing to do with religion and all to do with how they do things?

Somebody earlier in the thread said they hayed India, they must be anti Hindu?

ohnonotgmail

Peregrinus wrote: »

Exactly the same is true of the US - they used stolen Irish passports to get their own agents into Iran. But if someone mentions the Israeli use every bloody time passports are ever discussed, but never brings up the US use and either isn't aware of it or has simply forgotten it, I'm struggling to think of an explantion that doesn't start with "anti-" and end with "-semitism".

(The use of Irish passports to travel without attracting hostile scrutiny is itself testament to the relatively high value of an Irish passport as a widely accepted and welcomed travel document.)

I'd consider myself quite well up on the news and I wasn't aware that the americans had used Irish passports to enter Iran. was it on the news? I know it was on the news for a few days when the Israelies did it and it wasn't that long ago. So maybe that is the more likely reason that people remember it than just jumping to anti-semitism.