Could this signal the end of passports? Photo: 123RF
Solomon Islands has the most powerful passport out of the Pacific Island nations, with the document allowing visa-free access to 131 countries.
This is according to the Henley Passport index for 2026, which ranks passports in terms of destinations holders can travel to without a prior visa.
Marshall Islands and Samoa passport holders can visit 128 countries visa-free, while Tongans can enter 127 countries and Tuvaluans, 124.
People with a Kiribati passport can easily visit 122 nations, while people from FSM and Palau have easy access to 121 countries.
There's then a notable drop, to those on Vanuatu and Fiji passports, who can visit 89 and 88 nations, respectively.
Nauruans can visit 85 and Papua New Guineans 83.
The Singapore passport is at the top of the tree with easy access to 192 countries. New Zealanders can visit 183 and Australians 182.
Last on the list are Iraq (easy access to 29 countries), Suria (26 countries) and Afghanistan (24 countries).
But what does it mean? Why do Tongans get easy access to 33 countries Fijians don't?
The rationale
According to the official passport people, Henley & Partners, a country's GDP income and law and order play a key role.
A 2022 report said generally, citizens of low- and lower middle-income countries enjoy access to substantially fewer visa-free destinations than upper middle- and high-income countries.
"Countries are more willing to open up their borders to citizens from wealthier countries because doing so is likely to pay greater economic dividends in the form of trade, tourism, and investment," the report said.
"Secondly, individuals from wealthier nations are less likely to place a burden on the host country's social and economic system, for example, through the cost of unauthorized migration.
"Individuals from countries with high levels of poverty and economic instability, on the other hand, are considered as posing a high risk for overstaying their visas."
Another common factor is "domestic fragility".
The report said one of the primary indicators of this is the level of violence in a country, measured by bombings, terrorist attacks, ethnic conflict, and organized crime. Other indicators include factors such as state legitimacy, and the size of an internally displaced population.
"According to our analysis based on the Henley Passport Index and the Fragile States Index generated by The Fund for Peace, countries that are more fragile are less likely to have higher levels of travel freedom," the report said.
"The most likely explanation is that these countries fall into the high-risk category for security, asylum, and overstay."
But there are exceptions. In 2020, Cubans' visa applications were eight times more likely to be rejected than South Africans', even though South Africa is ranked as more fragile.
"This indicates that in addition to considerations about fragility, geopolitics may play a role in determining travel freedom for individuals around the world," the report said.
"With noticeable exceptions, citizens of lower middle- and low-income countries, and countries with higher fragility scores, enjoy far less travel freedom because they are deemed as being high-risk for security, asylum, and overstay.
"It is unfortunate that individuals who need international mobility the most, owing to political persecution and poverty, are the ones who lack travel freedom and are denied visas to wealthy and stable countries."
