The US Passport Just Lost It— and It’s No Longer in the World’s Top 10

[justseyi]

For the first time in two decades, the mighty blue passport that once opened nearly every door around the globe just got bumped from the world’s top 10. The United States passport now ranks 12th on the 2025 Henley Passport Index, marking its lowest spot since the index began 20 years ago.

That’s right — the same passport that once let you breeze through immigration lines with little more than a confident smile has now slipped behind countries like Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, whose citizens enjoy near-global access.

Here’s the breakdown:

Singapore sits comfortably in first place, granting visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 193 destinations.

South Korea and Japan follow closely behind, continuing their long reign as holders of the most travel-friendly passports.

Afghanistan remains at the bottom, offering access to fewer than 30 countries without a visa.

The U.S. once held the No. 1 spot in 2014 but has been steadily losing ground since. The report suggests that part of the decline stems from restrictive immigration policies introduced during the Trump administration, which led to diplomatic reciprocity challenges.

Adding salt to the wound, Brazil recently reinstated visa requirements for American travelers, ending a years-long visa-free agreement due to what it described as a “lack of reciprocity.”

In other words, the American passport isn’t quite the universal key it used to be — and as global travel dynamics shift, power in the passport world is clearly moving east.

So while your little brother might still lose his passport under the fridge before a trip, at least now, even if you find yours, it might not get you as far as it used to.

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