May 25, 2018 – The Canadian passport is the joint fifth most powerful in the world, offering visa-free access to 185 countries, the same as the Belgian, Danish, Irish and Swiss passports.
Holders of the coveted travel document have visa-free access to 185 countries, the same as holders of the Belgian, Danish, Irish and Swiss passports.
Top of the pile of powerful passports is Japan, offering visa-free access to 189 countries, one more than the German and Singapore passports.
Canada regularly features among the countries with the world’s most powerful passports. Visa-free access is seen as a measurement of the freedom of citizens of a certain country.
Top 10 Most Powerful Passports
- Japan (189)
- Germany, Singapore (188)
- Finland, France, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Sweden (187)
- Austria, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States (186)
- Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland (185)
- Greece, Australia (183)
- Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand (182)
- Iceland (181)
- Hungary, Slovenia, Malaysia (180)
- Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia (179)
Canada’s federal government recently made important changes to passport rules with the aim of protecting children under 16 and preventing the document being misused.
Key changes include giving power to the Canada immigration minister to issue without the need for an application or refuse to issue a passport to a child, if they believe it is in the child’s best interest.
The minister can also cancel a child’s passport if they believe it is in the child’s best interest
Under the changes, the minister is also given the power to refuse to issue a passport if they believe it will be used by someone other than the bearer.
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Gender Neutrality
The latest changes come after the federal government implemented gender neutrality on passports and other immigration documents in August 2017.
Those who do not identify as male or female can now indicate their gender with an ‘X’.
The move comes after the Canadian Human Rights Act was amended to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.
The Canadian government says it will work towards a ‘consistent federal approach’ when it comes to gender neutrality.
New Rules For Dual Citizens
Dual citizens must make sure they are aware of Canada’s passport rules.
Following the introduction of Canada’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) in 2016, dual citizens now require a Canadian passport to fly into the country.
When the new rule was introduced, Canadian missions all over the world were inundated with Canadian passport requests. Previously, dual citizens could use the passport of their other country of citizenship.
The eTA rules forced thousands of dual citizens to apply for a Canadian passport
Canadian missions in Australia, the UK, France and Germany say the increase in application numbers caused processing times to double in some cases.
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