Indian passport is ranked 87th in 2017 visa restrictions index rankings published by Henley & Partners with visa free travel to only 49 countries. Indian passport, in other words, can be said as “17th worst passport” in the world, at the bottom half.
The Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom that their citizens enjoy.
German passport ranks No.1 in the world where Germans can go to as many as 176 countries without visa. Afghan passport is ranked “worst” passport in the world with 104th ranking.
Indian citizens go through lot of hassles including long processing times and interviews, when applying for visas to European countries, United Kingdom, Australia and United States.
There are increasing number of indians applying for second citizenship in foreign countries through citizenship by investment programs in Caribbean/Europe, wanting visa free mobility to other countries, better education for children and for business reasons.
India does not allow dual citizenship, so indian citizens taking up citizenship in foreign countries are required to apply for OCI or surrender indian passport.
