Today, tomorrow, learn English naturally. 天天自然学英语
Not all passports are created equal. Here’s a list of the most powerful ones：The United Arab Emirates has the strongest passport in the world, according to a new index.
The country jumped from being tied for 32th place on last year’s ranking to the No. 1 spot, according to new index by the tax and immigration consultancy Nomad Capitalist.
The Emirati passport leapt up the list because it has visa-free travel privileges to the most places (181 in total), no income taxes and an ever-increasing presence on the world stage, all of which make it attractive to aspiring global citizens, the company said.
How the ranking works
Unlike other rankings that focus solely on visa-free travel privileges, the “Nomad Passport Index 2023” assesses five factors each given different weightings:
Other than visa-free travel, the categories are assessed by scores that vary from 10 to 50, said Jovana Vojinovic, Nomad Capitalist’s director of operations and sales.
For example, she said taxation is based on the long-arm reach of a country’s tax laws, as well as a country’s tax rates:
Citizen-based tax: where passport holders pay no matter where they live — score of 10
Resident-based tax: where residents are taxed on worldwide income — score of 20 (if rates exceed 50%) or 30 (if they don’t)
Territorial tax: where income made within the country is taxed — score 40
No income tax — score of 50
Countries that score a 10 for taxation include the U.S. and Eritrea, which employ worldwide “citizen-based” tax rules, said Vojinovic.
“You can theoretically live on the moon if you’re a U.S. citizen, and you’ll pay taxes to the U.S.,” she said.
South Africa is “flirting” with adopting the system but probably won’t be able to impose it because it lacks the sway that the U.S. has on the global banking system, which as a condition to work with U.S. citizens requires that they comply with federal IRS rules, Vojinovic said.
Another factor — dual citizenship — applies in two ways, she said — first, if a country allows its citizens to get a second citizenship, and second, whether it allows foreigners to naturalize there as well.
Perception is based on both subjective views and objective data, such as the World Happiness Report and the Human Development Index, said Vojinovic. But the bottom line for this category is: “Will someone bother you at the airport as being a citizen of that country?”The scores on this year’s ranking are generally lower than last year’s, because of a change in the way Nomad Capitalist scored visa-free travel.
This year, visas-on-arrival and e-visas aren’t included, causing many countries to lose ground on this factor, said Vojinovic. For example, last year’s No. 1 passport — Luxembourg — scored 189 in this category; this year it fell to 174.
Why the UAE ranked No. 1
Vojinovic called the UAE passport the “winner of the decade.”
The United Arab Emirates “added 106 new visa-free countries in the last decade, which is an amazing number,” she said. “Also, they’re a zero tax country.”
Perception of it improved in the past year because of an influx of rich and famous people who moved there, she said. She said several years ago, clients would say ”‘I’m not sure how safe it is’ or ‘we heard some things about their laws,’ referring that’s it’s a dominantly Muslim country.”
Others would mix the UAE with Saudi Arabia, “grouping it all together,” she said.
But slowly people started realizing it has “very liberal visa policies and is very welcome to foreigners, welcome to investments … [it’s] pretty much became a go-to destination for most people that have crypto based businesses.”
It also notched an additional 10 points in the “freedom” category because of a series of reforms, though this is still its lowest category overall.
In 2021, the government announced that Emirati citizenship is attainable for select foreigners, such as investors, doctors, scientists and intellectuals, who meet a rather high bar of requirements.
Still, the UAE passport is often regarded as being one of the most difficult passports to obtain.
“As the law is relatively new, we still have to see its practical implications as the number of requests increases,” said Vojinovic.
More people are on the move
Vojinovic said that “more and more people” are moving, and not just “exotic digital nomads” either.
She said more retirees are seeking to move to countries that have better health care and “freedom.”
“Freedom is … going to be highlighted in the next couple of years, especially in this industry, as we see massive, massive immigration waves from certain countries,” she said. “I think Canada is … leading this whole movement.”
Canada regularly tops passport rankings, but its ranking fell this year because of a loss of points in two categories: perception and personal freedoms, caused by incidents such as jailing protestors involved in the “Freedom Convoy” protests, Vojinovic said. “Canadians are very big on Costa Rica,” she said, “Americans especially like Portugal.”
But Portugal was also popular with many others, said Vojinovic, including wealthy people who wanted a European Union residence permit and digital nomads, retirees and families.
Portugal’s lax entrance policies haven’t been as welcome with residents. An influx of outsiders caused a housing crisis in the country, with soaring rental and purchase prices. Among other measures, the government announced in February that it was ending its “Golden Visa” program to help stabilize real estate costs.
“The same thing happened” in Costa Rica, she said. “Most people think it’s kind of dirt cheap, okay, we’re saving a bunch of money by going there. But … a lot of foreigners came in the country. Rent prices started jumping.”
Mexico is another location that has proven to be popular, especially during the pandemic, because it “didn’t have any Covid mandates,” while “crypto people” are attracted to El Salvador because Bitcoin is legal tender there, she said.
注释：
Emirati：n
表示"埃米拉蒂,酋长国"，如：Indeed, only around a quarter of the emirate's population are actually ethnically Emirati in a population mixture that has to be one of the world's most cosmopolitan. 的确,只有大约四分之一的人口是实际上的酋长国人种种群中混合着已成为世界最大的国家。
aspiring: adj
表示"有抱负的"，means "desiring or striving for recognition or advancement"，如：He came from an aspiring working-class background.他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。
Territorial: adj
表示" 领土的；土地的"，means "of or relating to a territory"，如：The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity. 该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
Eritrea: n
表示" 厄立特里亚（东非国家）"，means "an African country to the north of Ethiopia on the Red Sea"，如：Eritrea has always been a bit of a hot potato. 厄立特里亚也确实有点像烫手山芋。
Crypto: adj
表示" 秘密的；密码术的"，means "secret"，如：Specifies all elements that are in the crypto settings schema. 指定密码设置架构中的所有元素。
notch: v; n
1. v表示"刻凹痕"，means "cut or make a notch into"，如：When notching two layers of fabric, notch each layer alternately.两层面料都需打刀眼时,必须一层一层地交替进行。
2. n表示" 刻痕；"，means "a V-shaped indentation"，如：I cut a notch in a stick. 我在一根棍子上刻了一个V字形
nomad: n
表示"流浪者"，means "a member of a people who have no permanent home but move about according to the seasons"，如：The nomads have no habitation. 游牧者没有定居处。
influx: n
表示"涌入"，means "the process of flowing in"，如：The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees. 这个国家实在没有能力接纳这么多涌入的难民。
mandate: n
表示"授权"，means "a document giving an official instruction or command"，如：We have a mandate from the union membership to proceed with strike action. 我们获得工会会员同意，继续罢工。
中文简要说明：
全球最强护照换人，阿拉伯联合酋长国（UAE）挤下卢森堡，被美国企业Nomad Capitalist评选为2023全球最强护照。阿拉伯联合酋长国从去年的第35名，一次跃升成冠军，关键原因在于扩大让外国人申请双重国籍。
美媒CNBC报导，美国税务与移民咨询公司「Nomad Capitalist」日前公布2023全球最强护照排名，阿拉伯联合酋长国从去（2022）年的第35名一次攀上冠军，首次挤进前10名，就挤下去年冠军卢森堡。
有别于其他机构主要以免签数来评估一国护照好用程度，Nomad Capitalist评估包括免签数、赋税、一国观感、双重国籍及个人自由程度等5项标准，前2者权重分别占50%、20%，后3项各占10%。
Nomad Capitalist营运与销售总监沃伊诺维基（Jovana Vojinovic）解释，赋税指的是一国对公民的课税税率，以及是否向海外公民课税；观感则是衡量主观感受及客观数据，包括参考「全球幸福报告」、人权发展指数等，最基本的参考标准是，在机场是否受到骚扰；双重国籍项目则是衡量公民能否取得第2国公民身分，以及外国人能否归化为国民。
Nomad Capitalist报告写道，阿拉伯联合酋长国之所以一年内跃升至全球最强护照，主因在于近年来松绑让外国人申请双重国籍，辅以能自由旅行、友善的经商环境及赋税体系。
沃伊诺维基形容阿拉伯联合酋长国护照是「这10年的赢家」，过去10年新增106国免签，同时也是「零税率国家」。她说，过去有许多客户担心阿拉伯联合酋长国的法律、不确定是否安全，不过一年来外界的观感已有所转变，许多富人、名人搬过去，现在客户渐渐发现当地有非常自由的签证政策、非常欢迎外国人及投资，「（它）几乎成为加密货币行业人士的首选。」
Nomad Capitalist评分的2至10名依序为卢森堡、瑞士、爱尔兰、葡萄牙、德国、捷克、新西兰、瑞典、芬兰及荷兰。
亚洲国家中以南韩的21名排名最前，其次是新加坡的第30名，日本排名第38。值得注意的是，新加坡从去年的第9一口气降至30名，南韩也从第12降至第21，日本从18倒退至38。
留言微信公众号《自然学英语LearnNaturally》，可咨询更多: