Category: Pakistan

LONDON, July 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Japan has been knocked off the top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the first time in five years and bumped into 3^rd place, according to the latest ranking, which is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Singapore is now officially the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 192 destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. Germany, Italy, and Spain all move up into 2^nd place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, and Japanese passport holders join those of six other nations — Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden — in 3^rd place with access to 189 destinations without a prior visa.

The UK appears to have finally turned the corner after a six-year decline, jumping up two places on the latest ranking to 4^th place — a position it last held in 2017. The US, on the other hand, continues its now decade-long slide down the index, plummeting a further two places to 8^th spot with access to just 184 destinations visa-free. Both the UK and the US jointly held 1^st place on the index nearly 10 years ago in 2014, but have been on a downward trajectory ever since. Afghanistan remains entrenched at the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, with a visa-free access score of just 27, followed by Iraq (score of 29), and Syria (score of 30) — the three weakest passports in the world.

The general trend over the history of the 18-year-old ranking has been towards greater travel freedom, with the average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023. However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than it has ever been, with top-ranked Singapore able to access 165 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.

Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners, says only eight countries worldwide have less visa-free access today than they did a decade ago, while others have been more successful in securing greater travel freedom for their citizens. “The UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free score since 2013, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the ranking over the past 10 years from 56^th to 12^th position. Of the countries sitting in the Top 10, the US has seen the smallest increase in its score, securing just 12 additional destinations. Singapore, by comparison, has increased its score by 25, pushing it up five places over the past 10 years to number one.”

Commenting in the Henley Global Mobility Report 2023 Q3, released today alongside the latest index, Greg Lindsay from Cornell Tech’s Jacobs Institute, says that from a purely mechanical perspective, “the story is a simple one — by more or less standing still, the US has fallen behind. While its absolute score has in fact risen over the last decade, the US has been steadily overtaken by rivals such as South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. America’s relentless slide down the rankings is a warning to its neighbor Canada and the rest of the Anglosphere as well.”

The links between visa-free access and openness

Henley & Partners has conducted exclusive new research into the relationship between a country’s openness to foreigners — how many nations it allows to cross its borders visa-free — and its own citizens’ travel freedom. The new Henley Openness Index ranks all 199 countries worldwide according to the number of nationalities they permit entry to without a prior visa.

The Top 20 ‘most open’ countries are all small island nations or African states, except for Cambodia. There are 12 countries that are completely open to all passports and four that don’t allow anyone in visa-free. While the correlation between a high openness score and high visa-free access score is not straightforward, it is notable that Singapore and South Korea — high climbers on the Henley Passport Index Top 10 over last decade, moving up from 6^th and 7^th respectively in 2013 to 1^st and 3^rd today — boast relatively high degrees of openness compared to the 5 countries with the biggest disparity between the travel freedom they enjoy, versus the visa-free access they provide to other nationalities. US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have all either slid down the ranking or remained in the same place as their openness stagnates.

Prof. Peter J. Spiro, who holds the Charles Weiner Chair in international law at Temple University, says America’s extension of visa-free access is low, even by the standard of developed economies. “EU states grant visa-free privileges to more than twice the number of states than does the US. Processing delays, high refusal rates, and a reputation for disagreeable customer service are tarnishing the attractiveness of the US as a destination. Add to that the growing reputation of the US as ridden with gun violence and one can project a long-term trajectory in which US global standing further erodes.”

Read the full Press Release

Media Contact

Sarah Nicklin

Group Head of PR

sarah.nicklin@henleyglobal.com

Mobile: +27 72 464 8965

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WHR Global Shapes Clients’ Policies to Ensure Benefits Offerings Are Competitive in the Market

MILWAUKEE, July 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WHR Global (WHR), a leader in the global employee relocation industry, announced the release of its international 2023 Allowances & Per Diems Benchmark Report called “Ask an Expert!”

At WHR, our mission is to provide clients with superior relocation services, and to do so, we need to be in tune with the global cost of living. To accomplish this, we created the Ask an Expert 2023 Allowances & Per Diems Benchmark Report, a comprehensive guide to understanding the true cost of living, not just in one city, but in many cities worldwide.

“Drawing from my own personal experience as a former expat residing in Switzerland, and a former relocation coordinator, I bring a deep understanding of the challenges and intricacies of international relocation,” said Sean Thrun, Strategic Initiatives Manager at WHR. “This benchmark report and firsthand knowledge equips WHR with the ability to provide valuable insights and guidance to mobility teams, enabling them to navigate the complexities of global assignments more effectively.”

The Report includes 8.8 million price submissions from 11,000 cities, and prices benchmarked by country include rental prices for 1 & 3 bedrooms both inside and outside of city centers, common utilities costs per month, local transportation, and more. Understanding the ground realities of cost of living helps relocation teams create scalable solutions and helps businesses have more productive moves, making the transition for employees smoother than ever.

The Report allows businesses to “check the pulse” of their allowances and per diems, whether they choose to administer fixed amounts globally, or variable by location. If global mobility teams find that the allowances and per diems offered to their employees are lower than the average for that country, contact WHR today for a free consultation, including a breakdown of the benchmark report by city.

Global mobility teams may use this Report, which covers 99 countries, to benchmark the following:

• Monthly housing allowances for assignments & commuters,
• Monthly utilities allowances for assignments & commuters,
• Monthly transportation allowances for assignments & commuters,
• Transportation per diems for preview and home finding trips, and
• Meal per diems for preview and home finding trips.

Whether you are a relocation manager or a business leader, investing in the Ask an Expert 2023 Allowances & Per Diems Benchmark Report today can help you make the most informed decisions for your relocation budget and employee benefits policies.

See more data and download the complete 2023 Allowances & Per Diems Benchmark Report “Ask an Expert” here.

The Ask an Expert 2023 Allowances & Per Diems Benchmark is intended for informational purposes only.

About WHR Global

WHR Global (WHR) is a private, client-driven global relocation management company distinguished by its best-in-class service delivery and cutting-edge, proprietary technology. WHR has offices in the United States, Switzerland, and Singapore. With its 100% client retention rate for the past decade, WHR continues to position itself as the trusted leader in global employee relocation. WHR lives by its vision and passion for Advancing Lives Forward® and Making the Complex Simple. To learn more about WHR, visit https://www.whrg.com/, or follow on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Contact:
Sean Thrun, Strategic Initiatives Manager
+1-262-746-1314
Sean.Thrun@whrg.com

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