About

We’ve created this website to keep an overview visa requirements for different passports. While there are existing solutions out there, they were either inconvenient or outdated.

FAQ

Q: How does TravelFreedom work?

A: There’s IATA TimaticWeb which provides real-time information about travel restrictions, but it is not user-friendly, and doesn’t provide interesting statistics.

There’s Henley Visa Restriction Index which provides interesting ranking, but it is only published yearly.

There are "Visa_requirements_for_XXX_citizens" pages on Wikipedia, but those aren’t always accurate and up-to-date.

IATA TravelCentre provides real-time information that airlines use for check-ins. But it is destination-oriented, not passport-oriented.

We try to combine strengths of the above.

1. We follow methodology of Henley Visa Restriction Index for definition of

country/territory, with few differences. A potential destination is an internationally-recognized entity which enforces its own visa policy.

The following countries are considered as a nationality, but not as a
destination, as they do not enforce their own visa regulations.
Those traveling to one of these countries must only comply with entry
requirements set forth by their neighboring countries:
Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Palestinian Territory, San Marino,
Vatican City

Those from the territories dependent on the United Kingdom hold British
passports, therefore they are not considered as a nationality. However,
these territories are considered as destinations as they enforce their own
entry regulations: Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands,
Gibraltar, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands (British)

The following are considered as a destination, but not as a nationality.
These territories enforce their own travel regulations, yet those
originating from them hold passports issued by the authority of the
governing country:

Territories dependent on Australia: Norfolk Island

Territories associated with New Zealand: Cook Islands, Niue

Territories under administration of the USA: Guam, Northern Mariana Islands,
Puerto Rico, Samoa (American), Virgin Islands (USA)

Territories under administration of the Netherlands: Aruba, Bonaire,
St. Eustatius and Saba, Curacao, St. Maarten

Territories dependent on France: French Guiana, French Polynesia,
French West Indies, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Reunion

From _Henley Visa Restriction Index 2014_

Our methodology has the following additions, which increases the number of
possible destinations from 219 to 224.

*   IATA assumes single visa policy for French West Indies (Guadeloupe,
Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin (French part), Saint Pierre and
Miquelon, and Wallis and Futuna), but in reality these territories have
different visa policies for some passports.

*   We consider Kosovo, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as destinations.

2. Instead of thinking of a passport as a nationality, we try to cover as many

different types of travel documents as possible. Right now we only have ordinary passports, but in future we’re going to add documents like non-citizen passports of Latvia and Estonia, different British passports, and also diplomatic passports.

3. We use TimaticWeb for real-time information about visa requirements,

however our ground truth is information from embassies or user input.

4. While Henley Visa Restriction Index is published yearly, our aim is to

make monthly/weekly/daily updates.

Q: What does visa-free/electronic authorization/etc. mean?

A: Visa-free or visa-on-arrival means it’s not necessary to obtain a visa from a diplomatic mission of the destination before travel - essentially you can just show up at the border. It also includes destinations which issue visas on arrival, in addition to stamping your passport. This category implies that you are free to travel to the destination.

Electronic authorization means you need to make a few arrangements online before you travel, and you’re highly likely to get a travel confirmation within short amount of time. A prominent example is ESTA used by Visa Waiver Program of USA. It however does not include online visa applications (such as Australian E600 visa), where visa issue is not immediate and has further steps. This category implies that you are free to travel to the destination.

Visa required prior to arrival means that you need to get a visa or similar document from a diplomatic mission of the territory before your travel. This category implies that you are not free to travel to the destination.

Q: Data about visa requirements for passport X for country Y is wrong!

A: Though we do our best to keep information up-to-date, we still update manually. Naturally we may miss something, so we apologize for the inconvenience! Please report issues here

Q: X is not a country, it’s a part of country Y!

A: All political matters are at our discretion. While we try to keep this website as useful as possible, we don’t want to get involved in political debates. Politics is a complicated subject for us; we’re computer scientists.