Passport Inequality, Explained 

it must be nice not needing a visa and only worrying about finding flights 😪

This story reminded me when I was backpacking, some American and European tourist were complaining about the Chinese visa process - asking for fingerprints and etc. But as an Indonesian, when I try to go to Europe / North America, I need to do the same. Thanks for sharing this story and maybe more people will realize how passport inequality is real.

Thank you Bright Trip team for allowing me to speak about this important topic. It was a pleasure to work with you on this video :-)

I Am an Indian guy in France currently working. I can tell from my interactions with other French people. Very few of them have an idea how strong their passport is. Many of them have traveled to US with ease. And few years back , my visitor visa along with other 2 of my work colleagues got rejected because of some unknown reason. But the friend of our GM during after work dinner that US generally rejects single people from India out of fear they might not leave and stay back. It felt so bad, as if I am a criminal before hand. But you know that's life , shitty as it may be.

I've a German 🇩🇪 and Spanish 🇪🇸 passport, so one of the strongest passports in the world. It breaks my heart to see that I can travel to so many countries without problems while others could only dream to have my passport... I really hope that things will change to make it easier for everyone to travel and to see our beautiful planet!🌎🌍🌏

This is very true and not something many North Americans are aware of. Thank you for sharing your story Syifa!

It's depressing when you know your passport ranks lower than North Korea.

This is the kind of content I was hoping to see from Bright Trip. As someone with a weak passport myself and have been solo traveling through my twenties, I always wish travel channels would explore this topic of how inaccessible travel can be for the majority of the world. Diversified viewpoints such as this one matters more than you know. Thank you for shedding light on the topic. I think I also would be more inclined to take BT's courses if there is a breakdown of how to get to any given country before you get there, aka the visa application process and so on. Keep up the great work! Your team is amazing!

This is really spot on. Currently in Nigeria, a country with a weak passport, we can't even apply for passport or renew expired ones due to a government order. In places like this we are essentially imprisoned in our country. UPDATE: Since then, I applied for and got a passport. Although, it took a very short 5 months to get one.

As a fellow Indonesian I know how it feels. Thank you Bright Trip for putting this in the spotlight.

I am from Kyrgyz Republic, aka Kyrgyzstan. I had opportunity to travel within Europe, Asia and Middle East. Right before pandemic I applied for US visa to travel within North America, but received rejection by US embassy. They told me that I did not prove that my intention was to travel, not to immigrate. Anyway I went to Russia instead and had a great time there. Planning to visit Africa and Latin America once Covid situation gets better. Hopefully by then, USA government would believe my intention ;). Good luck to all travelers from developing nations and welcome to Kyrgyz land !

I hold Polish passport. During my lifetime it went from being a rather weak passport to one of the best ones to have. Together with the country transitioning from post-communist failed state to a developed European country. Few years ago I had to apply for travel visa just to enter the US, now it's visa-free, but I remember how annoying the whole process was. I feel for everyone who has to go through such experience regularly.

I have curated a map of all the 70 visa free/visa on arrival countries for my Botswana 🇧🇼 passport and I've just decided to explore these places that welcome me. Focusing on the politics, history of the discrimination is just draining and takes the fun out if travel. I have been happier since and I enjoy my slow travel to these welcoming countries.

Travel slowly is sooooo important. I am a strong believer that spending most of the days in a single country will be much more rewarding than rushing through many! That was a great tip! ☺️

Thank you for sharing Syifa. As an Ethiopian solo traveller, I totally relate to the challenges of a weaker passport. My friends are mostly from developed countries and they are completely oblivious to how easy it is when all you need to think about is flights. Love the tips, will try to savour the experiences each place has to offer more.

It's so annoying and unfair, the fact that with strictness to people from developing country with weaker passport require to have good background and they behave nicely in western country but those western first world tourist with strong passport usually behave badly and do whatever they want in developing country even become that beggar tourist.

I love that first tip. Travel slowly. For too many people, travel is about getting Instagram moments rather than taking the time to get to know the culture and people. What might have helped this video is explaining why some countries don’t have as much access as others.

Well done on this video, kak Syifa! As an Indonesian with a travel career background myself, this does seem to be the most common struggles for most of us trying to travel abroad. We are mostly limited to Asian countries while Western countries would seem to be limited for the higher markets. This video greatly highlights the inequalities and also huge props for reminding us to maximize the travel in one sole city / country area, since most Indonesian travel packages tend to breeze through countries like the Schengen area like it's a marathon to see who has the most countries visited in each packages, which mostly is just exhausting in the travel time on the road. Thanks again Johnny Harris and the team for making this video possible!

This was eye opening. Well made and explained. Thank you.

As someone from Thailand I feel your pain. It was a pain applying for a visa to visit Europe for the first time. Now I want Johnny Harris make a video deep-diving on this topic.

Really loved this one. Its such an important issue people in developed countries really have no idea about. Thank you for the insight!

Not only make us feel discouraged, but also humiliated had to show them our bank statement, Proof of income, recommendation letter and sponsors. Btw, happy to see you here, Syfa. I'm a fan :D

My boyfriend has an Iraqi passport. I have seen his visa get rejected few times just because he is an Iraqi. Seeing him go through the pain of rejection countless times, breaks my heart. He is one of the most hardworking, kindest and sweetest person that I have ever known. Everyday I pray that one day and hopefully soon, he will have a passport that allows him to be free, secure and happy.

Japan passport has the least limitations with a 193 visa free countries.

I’m from Costa Rica, and thus require a visa to travel to the US. Even though I’ve travelled many times before to America, to renew my visa, I not only had to carry out an application online after paying a 230 USD fee, but have been waiting since January for my interview at the American embassy (which is appointed for the end of October). It’s not that easy.

Happy to see Syifa here, really informative document.

This was such a good video and I appreciated that there were tips at the end to help people out! More of this please :)

Do you want a reason? 1. Countries with stronger economy don't want people to use the tourist visa free as a working visa. Avoid illegal immigration. 2. Foreign relations. Countries with weaker foreign relations enjoy less from visa free. Or even don't allow to enter. Just look how many countries don't accept Israeli passports at all. Even with visa. Or just look on the requirements for Iranian, Afghan etc citizens... 3. Some countries just want to control tourism. Like Bhutan...

i love your approach... how travel can be a status symbol, a sample of inequality and non-limiting all at the same time.

Good points, Syifa. Can't wait to start traveling full-time. I could listen to you recite anything, all day, such a soothing tone in your voice. ❤️❤️❤️

I'm from a developing nation (Brazil) but thanks to our diplomacy history, our passport it's strong, I can to 170 countries without visa, which is great and I know that we are privileged in this topic

I went from one of the worst passports in the world to one of the best (U.S.). My job requires a lot of travel and I can’t express how valuable a strong passport is. Applying for a visa is expensive and invasive and not even guaranteed. Beyond the ease of traveling, you also get more respect with a stronger passport which is sad but true.

Thank you for highlighting this topic, Syifa and Bright Trip! 🌟 As a fellow Indonesian-passport-holder living abroad, I find this topic to be overlooked a lot and many have yet to realise the weight of privilege there is on a passport.

Thank you for talking about this.

Such an incredible perspective and video - loved this one!

Such an important topic!! Thanks for explaining Syifa :)

This was very eye opening! Thank you for the education!!

Thank you for sharing your experiences on this important topic

Great video. Thanks for creating it

Syifa thank you so much for this video! Bagus bagus sekali topic nya! As an Indonesian it really hit me when you said "Feeling discouraged even before applying the Visa". So travelling became a huge "despair" moment for me and my partner. We always carefully select countries that will allow me to come without hassle (Playing safe, by staying within southeast Asia). Now that we live in Europe, everything changed and It really feels like I'm in a different world where I get to travel to more than 20 countries without having to even bring my passport. Years went by, I am still a proud Indonesian

The suggestions are brilliant

it's not only about how many countries you can visit, it's also about money. For example someone with german or usa passport can travel world for less money than someone with weak passport. For two reasons, first they don't need to pay visa fees, second they can fly using cheap flights with more lay overs, because they don't have to worry about visas and all.

This video content makes me understand more about being a solo traveller ... Nuhun Syifa !

Thank you for talking about this important topic! It’s really fascinating to see your perspective on it. Even though I’m one of the lucky holders of a “strong” passport I still found your advise very true and applicable :)

This is the kind of content and perspective we need on BrightTrip!!! Excellent work! And this format makes it feel less intimidating to contribute as well. Looking forward to more from POC/WOC contributors from the Global South x Seriously, this video is super inspiring it gets me thinking about how to travel on a weak passport. Maybe I'll write up some notes/tips/guide to help those like me overcome the visa barrier while traveling the world.

Great video! hope to see more! respect!

Nice video! I'm from Colombia and we require a visa for Japan, I applied but no answer after 2 weeks as they were questioning my income source. I canceled my application to get my passport back as I had a flight to the US and then South Korea 2 days later! I was a bit frustrated as I was so close to Japan but couldn't go due to visa requirements. Still loved SEA :)

Amazing video and eye opening.

Such a surprisingly pleasant video. 🤘

The problem lies with geopolitics. Visa requirements are often a way to make clear what one country's attitude towards another is. For example, if I as a Canadian citizen want to cross overland into the US, I just need to show my driver's license. It is even more painless to cross borders in the EU's Schengen Area. These countries have such deep cooperation that they want the free movement of labour between them. Meanwhile, a country will slap visa requirements on foreign citizens from countries they don't have formal ties with or are actively hostile towards. That is why it will be difficult for a Canadian to enter Bhutan (very little ties between them) or for a Chinese citizen to the US (actively hostile). A weak passport is often an indication of the country in question's relationship with the rest of the world. It can often indicate if that country has a high number of partnerships or largely isolated.

makasih syifa, you're so inspiring :*

Great video thank you

Her speech also reinforce an idea that only Europeans or Americans have strong paspoorts. She actually only names them when there are also Latin countries like Brazil, Chile, Argentina( Top 20 most powerful passports in the World) and Uruguay who have strong paspoorts with more than 170 visa free destinations. She also falls on that narrative.

Great video and its seems you are quite a good traveller!keep up the good work :)

I wish that you might have covered that many of the countries that have “weaker” passports also have higher levels of fraud, corruption, low thresholds for identification of their citizens. Many countries also support or sympathize with terrorist/criminal organizations. You cannot blame a country for wanting to know who is traveling and why. And also that the traveler can afford to support themselves while visiting.

Wow.. new youtube mrs syifa adriana best of luck go ahead

this lady is amazing. shes right

This was really interesting

What a kind person!

Let this be a reminder to everyone living in rich countries to never take your citizenship for granted. Some people have less opportunities just because of where they're born.

This is facts though, our own family back home always got their Canadian visitor visa rejected when they tried to visit us after spending money and hours trying to get one in the first place

As an indian I understand this difficulty very well.. You explained it easily and clearly. thanks syifa 🙏

I'm sorry to hear that. I have the German passport and I'm thankful any minute of it. I received that privilege by birth and never realized it untill a few months ago when friends and I traveled to European borders and they had to wait so long. Keep up your great content and keep your smile 🙂

Thats why i pursued acquiring a Spanish passport, it’s very annoying when you got instant business travel. And for the petition papers to be approved in the United States will take you 15 years of waiting 🙄 From your neighbor the Philippines.

In 1968-72 I was a student at a school in Geneva, Switzerland. The town is basically a finger sticking out into France. As we had British passports, we could travel into France whenever we wanted to, but others, with Asian passports, had to apply in advance for a visa if they wanted to travel into France, even if for say a lunch. I don't know if it's the same now.

Pakistani, born and living in Qatar and now 43 years old. A good happy life! Love CouchSurfing since 2009 and have been hosting total strangers and now good friends since then but only stopped in 2019. 90% of my actual real life friends are from CS. I can afford to travel anytime I feel like, I am also not a potential immigrant but still get refused. The world is such a beautiful place and life is too short. Traveling is an education and builds alot of tolerance and gives you patience. I hope, wish and pray a happy and safe journey to all the travellers out there, wherever they are, whoever they are! Tread lightly 🙏🤗

Awe inspiring! I've been from holding one of the weakest passport to the most strongest passport.

Even though I am unlikely to travel any time soon, I feel incredibly lucky knowing the power of my NZ passport. Hopefully when I am ready to travel it will still be as strong.

Great video. As fellow Indonesian I feel your pain of having to apply visas often. On the other end of spectrum, my wife, as a Japanese can easily access a lot of countries from the get go. It just feels unfair sometimes. But in retrospect, in these Corona times though, having fewer countries to easily visit is not really a big problem.

this is such and important and underrated topic

Finally someone said this! Having a weak passport like me, all I can say is dont take your strong passport for granted!

So, I'm going to make myself very unpopular by playing devil's advocate here. Since the Me Too and BLM movements in the United States, the word "equality" gets used a lot more frequently nowadays. Almost any undesirable experience gets explained as an "equality', whether it fits the description of the word or not. For the record, not being entitled to a benefit does not equate to "inequality". Inequality exists whenever you're denied a benefit or a right to which you have an entitlement. Unless I'm mistaken, no one has an automatic right to visit another country, unless the two countries have some agreement. That being said, why do the citizens of some countries enjoy a greater freedom of travel than others? The answer has nothing to do with "inequality" but with the economic and political policies of the government of the country in question. Let's take the two Koreas for example. In 1980, the GDP per capita of South Korea was a measly $2,240. South Korea was a very poor country and its citizens at the time had little to no freedom of travel. Why? Almost no one could afford it, and furthermore, not many countries were willing to allow South Korean citizens into their borders for fear that they might not want to leave, i.e. economic migration. Fast forward to 4 decades later and the GDP per capita of South Korea is a whopping $34,865, making it one of the 20 richest countries of the world! Now things look quite different. South Korean citizens have money to spend and are NOT interested in migrating to other countries out of economic necessity. Obviously most countries of the world now have to compete for South Korean businesses and citizens to visit their shores. Where does North Korea stand in all of this? Their GDP in 1980 was under $2,000 per capita, today it's still about $2,000 per capita. No one wants North Koreans to visit their country (for fear of economic migration), and truth be told, most North Koreans can't afford to travel anyway. What explains this discrepancy (NOT INEQUALITY!!!)? Thanks to a series of sound economic and political policies, South Koreans were able to improve their economy, thereby leading to prosperity and eventually, a first world economy. This did not occur by accident. The leaders of South Korea made a conscious decision to grow their economy and to create policies that allowed their citizens to maximize their potential. The leaders of North Korea chose to do the exact opposite. All of their economic policies benefited the top 1% of their population, leaving the remaining 99% to suffer in poverty. The result of all these governmental policies is that South Koreans can travel to most countries visa-free while North Koreans are held prisoners in their own country. Is this fair? That's a discussion for another time I guess. Is this inequality? NO, it is NOT! It is the natural consequence of a government's economic and political policies. There are several countries that made smart and intelligent policies that lifted their citizens out of poverty, e.g. Taiwan, Singapore, China, almost all of Europe after World War 2. Similarly there are dozens of countries that just can't seem to get their act together, for whatever reason, despite possessing vast natural resources and a resourceful population. An individual's freedom to travel however reflects the socio-economic policies of his/her own government and has nothing to do with being a victim, i.e. inequality.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this video. Many of my friends in US are not even aware of this, some of them dont even know what visa is?

Here in the Caribbean we have pretty strong passports....covering Europe except * Russia and Belarus* covering Central America, South America , a few African and Asian countries.....just usa still need a visa but I was never in a rush to visa the states

This is one of many reasons why I dreamt and working on to be Spanish! I am from the Philippines and my grandparents were born Spaniards but never intended to go back there after the civil war, ironic since they taught me the language, traditions and even taboo stuff. Now that motivates me to take leap of faith.

I'm from Vancouver(Canada) and I remember when we were going to 🇮🇹 and 🇬🇷 with our high-school, a lot of my Mexican, Middle Eastern and Asian friends had to apply for visas which was crazy because in my mind you only need a visa if you wanna work, Study or live somewhere else not to simply visit for two weeks. I can also recall that one of the students unfortunately was not able to obtain a "tourist visa" because she didn't give them some weird stuff that they were asking for. Interesting yet extremely scarring to see someone fail to go somewhere simply because they have a different tiny booklet that I do :(.

Totally relatable as a Sri Lankan. The B roll clips of my country are very beautiful...

Petition for Johnny Harris to make a video on this

I think you should have a more eye-catching profile pic on your RU-vid channel to make it unique and more recognizable. This channel is cool and deserves more views.

I am Libyan , i have been to 35 countries so far but mainly for business , i am expat since 16 years and i consider myself lucky because when i apply for visa the company i am working for supporting me but also your nationality play important rule when you apply for job internationally even if you have the skills needed.it is also another inequality

No way there is an old GDR passport lurking in this video! My gramps still has one even though they were fully decommissioned in 1995. Good old Soviet days Time stamp is 02:37

one thing that i know..some people originated from one country but then hold a passport of different country..i think that this is the way how they easily can get access to other countries as well

Thank you. We definitely need more perspectives that are not from the extremely privileged people.

I feel what you say as an Iraqi. Now, I am American with an American passport, countries have become so accessible, except for Covid-19. Even with an Iraqi passport, I traveled to many, many countries, including Taiwan, Turkey, Jordan, Malaysia, you name it. So, never give up! If you want something go and get it- the proper way of course!

The US passport took a nose dive a year ago. I realized how restrictive traveling can be for some people.

Earned a subscription for this. Another issue is that some developing countries will also discriminate against their own citizens by hiking fees to a point only foreigners can afford.

An Iraqi Passport holder here; I can confirm that it’s an absolute battle (and costs a kidney) to travel anywhere

This is a good video, but it would have been better if it was substantiated with more details, such as how visa applicants from developing nations are presumed to be criminals unless proven otherwise by requiring them to submit gazillions of clearances, certifications, proof of financial capability, medical check-ups, travel and medical insurance, etc.

My South African passport lets me travel to 2 countries in Europe: Ireland and Russia (3 if you count Turkey [4 if you count Kosovo]). It's rough...

It’s not fair. Why am I not allowed to travel as much when I’ve always been a law abiding and well educated person, yet I am restricted just because of where I’m born.

Passport strength depends on a plethora of factors like the country's diplomatic and financial strength, its soft power and the ease of travelling it portends within the nation as well as abroad.

Not even the fact of having a weak passport but the fact you have never traveled before and it’ll be your first time, and as you don't have any stamp, they wouldnt let you get on the plane. Talking from personal experience, me a Colombian traveling to Europe just to meet my partner and they broke that dream…

Passport inequilty was always and still the number one reason not being able to pursue my dream because all opportunities are in Europe and getting visa is something hard, it's like you can see it and feel it but you can't touch it

The main issue why people don't travel internationally in developing countries is money, passports and visas are therefore only an issue for the upper middle and upper classes in those countries, in general.

Your passport reflects your nationality and the background of your country of birth. If you are from a rich country, then you can travel visa-free, without worries. But if you are from a poor country, you need a stack of legal documentation to travel abroad. However, the purpose of imposing visas is always associated with national security. Rich countries impose visas on travelers from poor countries to make sure they don't overstay. Sometimes, these travelers are actually illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who want to seek a better life and a better future in developed nations. This is why the purpose of visa is to monitor what/who is coming in and out of a country. You see how strict rich countries are with visas and stuff like that? That reflects their dedication to upholding national security and protecting their interests.

Thank you for detail tips but no worries if you are with interview for visa , some time it is up to your confidence and your apperances .no matter how weak is ur passport . I am from Nepal and my passport is among the weak passport of the world , but I traveled most of europian countries and USA . my regards and love from Pokhara Nepal.

Within the Schengen zone (European Union) you don’t need a passport to cross the borders. Often there are no border checks at all between the countries

The accommodation and transport costs for travel are crazy enough... and to add visa fees on top of them? this passport thing really sucks

Even if at the time of reading this comment, you don't seem to have the opportunity to travel internationally, lemme tell you this. Travel is a great way of building a broader worldview, but it isn't the only one. I have personally known people who have travelled across the globe and still possess archaic notions, prejudices and can't seem to appreciate that we live in the 21st century. On the contrary, I've met many people who have lived long lives, never stepped out of their own countries and yet have a wise, open worldview, show affinity for new ideas and adaptability to changing times.

I clicked this because I saw you had included the New Zealand passport in the Vedic thumbnail 🇳🇿