Rwandan citizens can travel to 61 global destinations visa free, making their passport 83rd most powerful globally, according to the 2023 global mobility ranking.

The Rwandan passport emerged fourth most powerful in the region after that of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in the Henley Passport Index which ranks world’s 199 passports according to number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

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There are at least 27 countries Rwandan passport holders can travel to visa-free while 34 others only require visa on arrival.

The visa-free countries include Indonesia, Qatar, Philippines, Singapore, Ecuador and Haiti.
Others are African countries namely Angola, Benin, Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritius, and those in the East African Community (EAC).

Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Namibia, Ghana, Somalia, and 13 other African countries feature on the visa on arrival list, alongside Iran, Jordan, Cambodia, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Visa regime

Despite Rwanda’s visa regime granting nationals of all countries 30-day visa on arrival since 2018, several countries including those on the African continent require its nationals a physical visa to enter their territories.

Also read: Ready for intra-Africa air travel via Asia, Europe in 2023?

The list has 25 African countries among them South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Cameroon, Botswana, Morocco, Sudan, Libya and Djibouti.

Others are the entire European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, alongside Russia, Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Israel.

East Africa

The ranking shows Kenyan passport holders in East Africa access more destinations (73) without prior visa, followed by citizens of Tanzania (72), Uganda (67) and Rwanda at the fourth place with 61 destinations.

Burundian passport holders can access 50 destinations without visa, while DR Congo citizens have access to 42 destinations.

Globally, it’s the Japanese passport that will get you the most visa-free access to the rest of the world. Japanese citizens can visit 193 destinations visa-free.