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In recent months, a video from an Indian travel influencer complaining about India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

The influencer stated that while nearby nations like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming to Indian tourists, obtaining visas to travel to most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction with India's poor passport strength found confirmation in recent global passport ranking, which placed the country in the 85th spot out of 199 countries, a decline of five positions than last year.

Officials in India has not commented on the report yet.

Countries like Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size than India – a nation that is the fifth-largest economy globally – are ranked higher on the index at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

Actually, India's rank in the past decade has remained around the eighties, even dipping to ninetieth place two years ago. Such standings are dismal compared to Asian nations like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, all maintaining top positions.

What Passport Strength Measures

Passport strength indicates a country's global influence and international standing. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for passport holders, boosting business and educational prospects. A weak passport results in more paperwork, increased visa expenses, fewer travel privileges and extended processing periods when journeying.

However, even with the decline in the rank, the number of countries offering visa-free access for Indian citizens has grown in the past decade or so.

For example, in 2014 – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party assumed office – 52 countries provided visa-free travel for Indian passport holders and its passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

The following year, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then improved to eightieth over the past two years, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot currently. At the same time, visa-free destinations for Indians increased from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of visa-free destinations in 2025 (57) is higher than what it was eight years ago (52), but the country's position during both periods remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a major reason involves growing competition in international travel – meaning nations are forming more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and their economies. According to a 2025 report, the worldwide mean count of countries travellers are able to access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2025.

For example, The Chinese passport has expanded its count of visa-free destinations available to its citizens from 50 to 82 in the past decade. Consequently, its rank on the index has enhanced from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – previously positioned 77th on the index during summer – fell to eighty-fifth place this autumn after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

An ex-diplomat from India says multiple elements influencing the strength of a country's passport, like economic and political conditions plus its receptiveness to welcoming citizens from other countries.

For instance, the US passport has fallen from the top ten currently holding twelfth place – a historic low – due to its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The diplomat recalls that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, though this shifted after the Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Subsequent political upheavals have continued to damage at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are also becoming more cautious of immigrants," he stated. "India has a large quantity of citizens emigrating to other countries or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the national image."

Factors such as the security level a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also play a role to obtaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport faces ongoing security threats. In 2024, law enforcement detained 203 people for suspected passport and visa irregularities. The country also has complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines of visa processing.

The former ambassador says that new technologies, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport contains a small chip holding biometric data, making it harder to counterfeit or alter the document.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel partnerships continue essential for enhancing international travel freedom of Indians and consequently, the Indian passport's global position.