Is it time every Indian should consider getting a Vanuatu passport?

As @lalitkmodi tries to get to Vanuatu, @virtuallyshreya looks at India’s passport ranking in 2025.

Transcript

00:00After Lalit Modi, should you try for a Vanuatu citizenship?

00:04Well, choose your pick wisely between VFS or Vanuatu if you hold an Indian passport.

00:10As the internet reacts to former IPL chief Lalit Modi's application to acquire citizenship of this tiny island in the South Pacific,

00:17perhaps it is time that we reconsider our own situations.

00:21As of March 18, 2025, the Indian passport was ranked 82nd in the Henley Passport Index.

00:27In fact, we were ranked 80th in 2024.

00:30All this while Vanuatu's passport is ranked 54th globally and offers visa-free access to 92 countries,

00:37including countries like Singapore, Russia and Malaysia.

00:40What's more, India's standing in the rankings is close to African countries like Niger, Algeria and Senegal,

00:46with passports from Kenya, Ghana and Uganda even outperforming us.

00:50More than 77 years since independence, India is the world's fastest growing economy

00:55and we pride ourselves on a rising diplomatic clout.

00:58From hosting the G20 summit to the ongoing Ryazena dialogue,

01:02what use is so much bilateral communication if it doesn't translate to change on the ground?

01:07In 2025, Indians must plan for months and put together their life savings just to take a flight to Europe.

01:13The visa fees are so exorbitant at every stage of the process,

01:17from securing a visa appointment to collecting your own passport.

01:21One can easily expect to spend around Rs 20k per person solely inside the visa office.

01:26Indians are also expected to show printouts of pre-paid flights, hotel stays, bank balances,

01:31insurance receipts, payslips, degrees, all to be eligible to take a holiday.

01:36It's a process so normalized that most don't blink an eyelid

01:39when it comes to going through immense difficulties to securing a visa for even 10 days.

01:44Most people take days off from work to travel to major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai

01:50to make it to appointments.

01:52At the end of it all, many are still greeted with a rejection on grounds of missing paperwork

01:57or simply not being travel-friendly.

01:59And their savings? There is no refund for that.

02:02The innate amount of stress in the process, from start to end,

02:06on those who are not as tech-friendly and older makes it almost impossible for them to apply on their own.

02:12And if they do, they are subjected to never-ending demands, queues, hours of work and papers to accumulate.

02:17It's so easy to give up. But in a world where freedom and global mobility is the new currency,

02:22why are we still decades behind in the new age world order?

02:26In light of all this and more, securing a Vanuatu citizenship doesn't seem like a bad idea.

02:31When do you think things will finally change?

02:33Let us know your experiences in the comments below.