The World’s Best and Worst Passports for Travel in Central & South America and Beyond

Planning that dream getaway to Central & South America is easy with the experts at Goway, but one planning element out of the control of any agent is visa requirements. Luckily for Canadians and Americans there are very few visa issues when travelling to our neighbouring continent to the south. Currently, both Canadians and Americans need a visa to travel to Brazil, whereas Americans just need one for Bolivia. Chile does charge US and Canadian citizens a tax for entry, as does Argentina just for Canadians, but this is technically not a visa and is valid for the life of your passport.

Other nationalities, however, are not so lucky, and face many frustrating pathways to travel overseas, according to the 2016 Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index, a global ranking of countries based on the freedom of travel for their citizens.

Finland and Germany once again topped the index, with a score of 177 – indicating the number of countries and territories their nationals can visit without a visa. Therefore, the higher the number; the better, with Finland, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK at 175.

The US sits with Denmark with a score of 174, while Canada came in at 172, eh! An honourable mention to Australia which scored 169 countries where no visa is required.

The global ranking was produced in collaboration with IATA.

As previously mentioned, both US and Canadian citizens travelling to Brazil require a visa. Prices are $97CA / $187US (prices subject to change). This visa MUST be arranged prior to travel.

All in all, Latin America is an easy place to travel to! Most main destinations can be reached within a day, or overnight flight. Plus, there’s not much jet lag to worry about as the time zones stay mostly the same, depending on your destination. There is really no excuse not to look at Central and South America as the next destination on your travel bucket list.

So next time you plan to travel with Goway to South and Central America or the polar regions – where visas aren’t necessary – just remember how lucky you are to be living in the US or Canada and the comparative ease in which you can travel.

On the other side of the coin, the countries listed below aren’t so lucky. Sadly, but not surprisingly, they are also countries with recent or ongoing internal civil and political unrest.

These six countries round out the bottom of the list – some with numbers (countries the nationals can visit) which have slowly dropped over the past few years.

Libya 36
Syria 32
Somalia 31
Iraq 30
Pakistan 29
Afghanistan 25

For more information on travel ideas to Central & South America, please visit us at www.goway.com.