Bulgarian passport ranks 20th globally, 21st among Schengen countries
Baku, October 13, AZERTAC
The Bulgarian passport ranks 21st among the passports of the 29 Schengen Area countries and 20th in the global ranking published Tuesday by international research platform Passport Reports.
Ahead of Bulgaria in the Schengen ranking are Romania and Croatia, in 20th and 19th place, respectively. Bulgaria is followed by Czechia in 22nd place, Latvia in 23rd and Slovakia in 24th, according to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).
Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland top the ranking, followed by Belgium and France. Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands also make the top ten. Lithuania, Liechtenstein and Iceland occupy the bottom three positions among Schengen countries.
According to the platform, Bulgarian passport holders can travel visa-free to 119 countries, while 27 offer a visa on arrival. Another 10 require an electronic travel authorization. This brings the total number of destinations accessible without obtaining a visa in advance to 156.
The difference between Bulgaria’s positions in the two rankings stems from the way places are numbered. In the global ranking, passports with identical scores share the same position, while in the Schengen ranking each country is assigned a separate place even when scores are equal.
Passport Reports describes itself as an independent, non-profit research and publishing platform that collects and analyses data on visa regimes and international travel access. It publishes rankings, comparative analyses and information on the passports of 199 countries in 34 languages, using the same assessment criteria for all.
The platform notes that rankings and visa requirements may change and advises travellers to check the latest entry requirements before departure.
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