Americans can go almost anywhere at moment notice with just their golden passport. Meanwhile people from many country has to submit countless documentations and bank accounts data for US visa only to get denied three months later.

[–] MossyFeathers@pawb.social 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm scratching my head at this comment because I thought EU passports were more powerful at this point. I thought the US has pissed off enough countries that there are many you can't enter as a US citizen (admittedly mostly in the middle east, to countries I doubt most European citizens want to go either), but an EU passport will get you basically anywhere you want to go. Was I wrong about that?

[–] burningmatches@feddit.uk 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The most powerful passports in the world in 2023

Japan (193 destinations)
Singapore, South Korea (192 destinations)
Germany, Spain (190 destinations)
Finland, Italy, Luxembourg (189 destinations)
Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden (188 destinations)
France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom (187 destinations)
Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States, Czech Republic (186 destinations)
Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta (185 destinations)
Hungary, Poland (184 destinations)
Lithuania, Slovakia (183 destinations)

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/world-s-most-powerful-passports/

[–] rikudou@lemmings.world 2 points 1 year ago

Outdated, Japan has 189 and Czechia 187. Possibly other changes as well.

[–] Ysellian@feddit.nl 7 points 1 year ago

but an EU passport will get you basically anywhere you want to go. Was I wrong about that?

Depends on the country within the EU. Germans can go hassle free pretty much anywhere . Bulgarians on the other hand are going to struggle a fair bit more than an American.

[–] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

German here. I had to go through a 3-month process with multiple, personal visits to the Chinese embassy in Frankfurt to be allowed one-time entry to China for a couple of days. Visa fee was 120€, IIRC.

[–] rikudou@lemmings.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, it's China, a country known for its heavy surveillance. They're not gonna let anyone in just like that.

[–] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah. I heard I even got preferential treatment because I got invited by my cousin's wife's family to attend the wedding.

Also the roaming fees were insane. I still have the pricing information message:

Translation: Welcome to China! Here, you can receive calls for 1.59€ per minute + possibly at least 0.50€ per minute (depending on carrier), send text messages for 0.59€ and receive text for free. Data roaming for 12.29€ PER MEGABYTE (automatically capped at 59.50€ per month) may be possible. Good travels wishes o2.

[–] Obi@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

This means they estimated that 60€ was the cutoff before people that rack up MBs without thinking about roaming fees start seriously complaining when seeing the bill.

[–] MossyFeathers@pawb.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Huh, according to another reply, German passports are supposed to be more powerful than a US passport. Maybe that's not taking into account visa requirements though. No idea if a US passport would have the same issue with China either. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[–] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

China probably isn't on the list for visa-on-arrival for any country. Whether the process and the attached fees differ according to where your passport is from, I don't know. I assume that is the case tho.