In the latest 2026 edition of the Henley Passport Index, the US sits in 10th place, while the UK ranks seventh. The rebound marks a symbolic recovery, but analysts warn it masks a deeper, long-term erosion of mobility for both countries.
In 2014, the US and UK jointly held first place on the index. Over the past decade, however, the US has suffered the third-largest drop in ranking globally, behind only Venezuela and Vanuatu. American passport holders can currently access 179 of 227 destinations worldwide without a prior visa, according to data from the International Air Transport Association, which underpins the index.
Experts say passport power is increasingly tied to geopolitics rather than technical travel arrangements.
Misha Glenny, Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, said: “Passport power ultimately reflects political stability, diplomatic credibility, and the ability to shape international rules. As transatlantic relations strain and domestic politics grow more volatile, the erosion of mobility rights for countries like the U.S. and UK is less a technical anomaly than a signal of deeper geopolitical recalibration.”
The US also performs poorly on the Henley Openness Index, which measures how many nationalities a country allows to enter visa-free. By admitting only 46 nationalities without a prior visa, the US ranks 78th out of 199 countries.
Concerns about future mobility have been heightened by research commissioned for the Henley Global Mobility Report 2026. The report warns that a proposal put forward in late 2025 by US Customs and Border Protection could effectively end visa-free travel in all but name. The plan would require citizens of 42 allied nations, including the UK, France, Germany, and Japan, to submit extensive personal data under the Visa Waiver Program.
If implemented, travellers would be required to disclose five years of social media activity, ten years of email addresses, phone numbers, and IP addresses, as well as detailed family information and biometric data including facial recognition, fingerprints, and DNA, retained for up to 75 years.
Greg Lindsay, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and Arizona State University’s Threatcasting Lab, warned: “For Europeans long accustomed to near-frictionless travel, the implications go far beyond inconvenience. This level of data collection enables real-time ideological screening and creates the risk that personal information could be shared, repurposed, or weaponized.”
Despite the US re-entering the top 10, the 2026 rankings continue to be dominated by Asian and European nations. Singapore leads the table with visa-free access to 192 destinations, followed by South Korea and Japan. Analysts say the results underline a shifting global order in which mobility advantages are increasingly concentrated among the world’s most politically stable and economically powerful countries.
