OREANDA-NEWS. Russia over the past ten years has doubled the number of countries that its citizens can visit without issuing entry visas. This is the conclusion made by analysts of the consulting company Henley & Partners, which specializes in developing state programs for the granting of citizenship and residence permits through investments. They compiled the Passport Index reflecting changes in the visa-free regime of the countries of the world by the beginning of the third quarter of 2019.

The leaders of the list were Japan and Singapore. Citizens of these countries can visit without visas 189 countries and territories of the world. They are followed by - South Korea (three months earlier she shared first place), Germany and Finland (187 countries). The third place in the updated ranking is shared by Denmark, Italy and Luxembourg (186 countries).

In the third quarter of 2019, Russia ranks 51st in the passport rating. Its citizens today can visit 116 countries without applying for a visa. This, analysts note, is significant progress for the country over the past decade, since as far back as 2009, Russians could visit only 60 countries of the world without visas. However, in the previous quarter, Russia was higher in the ranking, occupying the 47th line with 118 countries for visa-free entry. The reduction in the number of visa-free countries for Russians is due to the tightening of the visa policy of Djibouti and Benin.

High positions in the ranking are occupied by countries whose citizenship can be granted through investments. For example, Malta has been rising in the rating in recent years and is currently in 7th place (182 countries without a visa) and just one line behind the United States and the United Kingdom. Cyprus is in the top twenty and ranks 16th (172 countries). Least of all countries without a visa can visit the citizens of Afghanistan, this country is in the last, 109th place in the ranking with access to only 25 states.