Methodology

Where the data comes from

Every verified cell is read from the government that sets the rule. An analyst at PL Group checks it, records the date of the check and, where the government publishes one, the date the rule itself was last revised. About two thirds of governments publish no revision date, so we do not imply a freshness we cannot prove.

Verification runs destination by destination rather than passport by passport, which is why coverage arrives in blocks. Today 172 of 199 destinations are verified and 27 are still provisional. This edition was generated on 15 October 2026.

Verified and provisional

A destination is verified when it has been checked against a named government source and dated. Public entries are provisional and marked in the tables. The map shows them in a lighter shade of their status colour. Unknown entries are not counted.

Provisional entries

For destinations we have not yet checked against the government's own source, Borderless shows a provisional entry taken from Wikipedia's visa requirement tables. Provisional entries are marked wherever they appear, and each one is replaced as its destination is verified. Source: Wikipedia contributors, the articles titled Visa requirements for citizens of each country, licence CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 12 October 2026.

The ladder

Statuses run from the most open to the least, in this order.

1. Visa free. Travel and be admitted without applying for anything first.
2. Visa on arrival. A visa is issued at the border on arrival.
3. Electronic travel authorisation. An electronic travel authorisation is approved before departure. It is not a visa.
4. eVisa. A visa has to be applied for and granted online before departure.
5. Visa required. A visa has to be obtained before travelling, usually in person.
6. No admission. Holders of this passport are not admitted.
7. Not yet known. Not yet known. This destination is not counted.

What counts as access

The access count on a passport page counts visa free, visa on arrival and an electronic travel authorisation. All three mean you can set off and be admitted on arrival. An eVisa does not count, because it has to be applied for and granted before departure, so it sits with visa required on the access side of the line even though it ranks above it on the ladder.

Passport pages and the explorer combine verified and provisional access, with both parts stated. Unknown entries do not count towards access or the destination total. Home page figures, the portfolio builder and the quiz use verified destinations only.

Still to come on this page

• The pillars, their weights and the reasoning behind those weights.
• The formula, the normalisation method and the sub weights inside each pillar.
• The source types behind each pillar, with vintages and licence notes.
• The coverage rule, the tie break order and the edition scheme.
• The refresh cadence per pillar, and the disclosure language.

Nothing carrying a pillar name is published before this note is. That is the order, and it does not bend for a launch date.