As of January 1, 2024, Kosovo passport holders can travel a total of 48 foreign countries totally visa-free, including here the 27 Schengen Area member states, Romania and Bulgaria, which will join Schengen on March 31, as well as Cyprus, EU Helpers reported.
Ireland is the only EU nation where Kosovans still require a visa in order to enter for business or tourism, as the country is not a part of the Schengen Area, and as a result, its policies differ slightly from those of the other Member States.
The United Arab Emirates has granted visa-free travel to citizens of Kosovo as of right now, bringing the total number of visa-free nations to 49. Kosovo is now ranked 97th out of these 49 countries.
Prior to the liberalization of visa requirements, inhabitants of Kosovo were only allowed to enter 11 countries without a visa. These countries included Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania, who are all neighbors of Kosovo.
Besart Bajrami, the founder of EU Helpers, commented on Kosovo's rise in the Visa Guide Passport Index, pointing out that the EU is the only global government with the capacity to bestow such power to a single passport overnight.
Kosovo passport holders can currently visit 49 countries worldwide without a visa. However, they require an eVisa for 32 countries, a standard visa for 97 countries, and a visa on arrival for 32 more countries in order to travel.
Since their governments do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state, the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Georgia, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Seychelles, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela have prohibited the Kosovo passport.
This list included Spain before to January 6. However, in order for the holders of these passports to enter Spain without any issues, the Spanish government has chosen to accept Kosovo passports.
As per Besart Bajrami, Spain's primary motivation for this action stems from its incapacity to completely prohibit passports from Kosovo.
The Visa Guide Passport Index ranks the passports of Spain, Germany, and Singapore as the top three most powerful passports for January 2024.
