The 2025 Passport Index released on 10 December by advisory firm Arton Capital once again crowns the United Arab Emirates as the planet’s most powerful travel document. UAE citizens enjoy visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 182 countries, a margin that widened in 2025 as other nations tightened entry rules.
For Emiratis and UAE residents trying to keep pace with those ever-changing entry regulations, VisaHQ’s dedicated UAE portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) offers up-to-date visa requirements, fast online applications and concierge support, ensuring trips remain hassle-free even when new electronic travel authorisations are introduced.
![UAE passport retains world’s No. 1 ranking for seventh straight year]()
The sustained top ranking bolsters the country’s soft power and complements flagship programmes such as the 10-year Golden Visa. Wealth-management advisers report an uptick in high-net-worth individuals seeking naturalisation through long-term residency routes, citing the passport’s mobility benefits as a decisive factor.
For UAE-based multinationals, Emirati employees now require advance visas for fewer markets than their peers, simplifying deployment to client sites and emergency project locations. Nevertheless, travel-policy teams caution that reciprocity is not guaranteed: several Latin-American states introduced electronic travel-authorisation (ETA) systems in 2025 that still require registration despite visa-free status.
Arton Capital attributes the UAE’s dominance to consistent diplomatic outreach, economic stability and the country’s open-door approach to investment and talent. The index uses a live scoring model that tracks visa changes in real time, making the year-end confirmation particularly noteworthy.
For Emiratis and UAE residents trying to keep pace with those ever-changing entry regulations, VisaHQ’s dedicated UAE portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) offers up-to-date visa requirements, fast online applications and concierge support, ensuring trips remain hassle-free even when new electronic travel authorisations are introduced.
The sustained top ranking bolsters the country’s soft power and complements flagship programmes such as the 10-year Golden Visa. Wealth-management advisers report an uptick in high-net-worth individuals seeking naturalisation through long-term residency routes, citing the passport’s mobility benefits as a decisive factor.
For UAE-based multinationals, Emirati employees now require advance visas for fewer markets than their peers, simplifying deployment to client sites and emergency project locations. Nevertheless, travel-policy teams caution that reciprocity is not guaranteed: several Latin-American states introduced electronic travel-authorisation (ETA) systems in 2025 that still require registration despite visa-free status.
Arton Capital attributes the UAE’s dominance to consistent diplomatic outreach, economic stability and the country’s open-door approach to investment and talent. The index uses a live scoring model that tracks visa changes in real time, making the year-end confirmation particularly noteworthy.
