According to Experts.news, the Ukrainian passport ranked 65th in the Global Passport Index 2026, which evaluates citizenship based on three key areas: enhanced mobility, investment potential, and quality of life, according to the Global Passport Report 2026 by Global Citizen Solutions.
The report was published on the Global Citizen Solutions website with an update date of July 1, 2026. The study notes that the ranking covers 197 countries and territories and is calculated based on 14 indicators.
According to the index, Ukraine ranked 65th in the overall ranking, 63rd in terms of enhanced mobility, 79th in terms of the investment index, and 82nd in terms of quality of life. According to Global Citizen Solutions, a Ukrainian passport provides visa-free access to 89 countries; however, Ukrainian citizens need a visa to enter approximately 31 destinations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, and a number of countries in Africa and Latin America.
Sweden topped the Global Passport Index 2026 with a score of 96.05 out of 100. It is followed by Switzerland, Finland, and Germany, while Denmark and the Netherlands share fifth place in the interactive table.
The bottom five countries in the ranking were Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and Afghanistan. Afghanistan remained in last place with a score of 23.10 points. The gap between the ranking leader, Sweden, and Afghanistan was 72.95 points.
The Global Passport Index differs from traditional passport rankings in that it is not limited to counting visa-free destinations. The index takes into account the quality of available destinations, the investment climate of the country of citizenship, and living conditions. This is particularly important for Ukraine, as the value of a passport under this approach is determined not only by travel opportunities but also by the perception of the country as a place for business, living, and long-term planning.
In practice, Ukraine’s result reflects a dual situation. On the one hand, the Ukrainian passport maintains relatively high mobility thanks to the visa-free regime with the EU and a number of other destinations. On the other hand, the investment and quality components of the ranking remain below the level of EU countries, which lowers the country’s overall position in the comprehensive citizenship index.
CITIZENSHIP, Global Passport Index, mobility, PASSPORT, UKRAINE
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that children born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the United States illegally or on a temporary basis are U.S. citizens from the moment of birth. The decision effectively blocks President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict the automatic granting of citizenship by birthright.
The case was heard in connection with Executive Order 14160, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which Trump signed on January 20, 2025. The order proposed that children born in the U.S. to parents without permanent immigration status should not automatically be considered U.S. citizens.
The court concluded that such children are protected under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside.
The ruling is significant not only for immigration policy but also for the market for services related to childbirth in the United States. In practice, it means that U.S. passports obtained by virtue of birth on U.S. soil remain valid, and the right to citizenship by birth itself cannot be revoked by presidential decree.
However, the debate surrounding so-called “birth tourism” is not over. Following the court’s decision, the Trump administration may tighten controls over visa applications, travel by pregnant women, and cases of potential fraud upon entry into the United States. But this is a different legal matter: combating visa violations is not the same as revoking the citizenship of a child born on U.S. soil.
For foreigners who view the U.S. as a destination for childbirth, the main takeaway is this: the fundamental constitutional principle has been upheld, but immigration and visa risks may increase. U.S. authorities may scrutinize the purpose of travel, financial documents, medical plans, and any potential concealment of true intentions more closely when issuing visas or at the border.
For the international market for immigration and medical services, the Supreme Court’s decision means the preservation of one of the most well-known mechanisms of jus soli—citizenship by place of birth. The United States remains one of the key countries where the mere fact of being born on U.S. soil grants a child citizenship, regardless of the parents’ citizenship, with the exception of a few specific cases.
Thus, Trump’s executive order has not altered the fundamental principle of U.S. citizenship. Children born in the United States are still entitled to U.S. citizenship, but there will likely be more scrutiny, legal disputes, and political pressure surrounding travel for the purpose of giving birth.
Ukrainians in the Republic of Moldova will be able to obtain Ukrainian citizenship through a simplified procedure: The Cabinet of Ministers has included this country on the list of states whose citizens are eligible for this mechanism, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced.
“I discussed this decision with Moldovan Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu. This is a natural step for our countries. We are united by a shared border, a shared path toward the European Union, and mutual support in the face of Russian aggression. There is a large Ukrainian community living in Moldova, and we want people to have easier access to Ukrainian citizenship,” she wrote on Telegram.
The prime minister noted that the next step will be to make this procedure as convenient as possible.
“Currently, to obtain citizenship, one must pass exams on the Ukrainian language, the Constitution, and the history of Ukraine, but this can only be done in Ukraine. We are working on the possibility of taking these exams remotely. We also need to streamline the final stage of processing documents through diplomatic missions abroad so that people can obtain a Ukrainian passport without unnecessary obstacles,” Svyrydenko emphasized.
In addition, the parties separately discussed the development of joint transportation infrastructure, in particular the construction of a new bridge between Ukraine and Moldova.
The Norwegian government has proposed tightening the conditions for obtaining citizenship by changing the requirements regarding length of residence in the country and knowledge of the Norwegian language for certain categories of applicants.
Under the government’s initiative, applicants will be required to have lived in the country continuously for eight years to obtain a Norwegian passport. Currently, most applicants must have resided in Norway for a total of eight years over the past 11 years, provided they hold a permanent residence permit. The new model is intended to simplify the calculation of residency periods and reduce the number of different requirements for specific groups of applicants.
Norway’s Minister of Labor and Social Integration, Kjersti Stenseng, stated that obtaining citizenship should be viewed as a privilege, and that the current rules are too complex, particularly regarding residency requirements.
Separately, the government proposes to increase the residency requirement for stateless persons from three to seven years. For applicants in this category who were born in Norway or arrived in the country before the age of 18, the plan is to set a residency requirement of five years.
The changes will also affect foreigners who are married to, in a registered partnership with, or in a de facto relationship with a Norwegian citizen. For them, the period required to obtain citizenship is proposed to be increased from a minimum of five years of residence and marriage to six years of continuous residence in the country.
In addition, the government wants to raise the Norwegian language proficiency requirements for stateless persons aged 18 to 67—from level A2 to B1. Residence on the Svalbard archipelago will no longer be considered grounds for applying for Norwegian citizenship.
The government explains the changes as necessary to make the rules more consistent and understandable, as well as to speed up the processing of applications. At the same time, the stricter requirements effectively make the path to a Norwegian passport longer for a number of categories of foreign nationals.
In total, as of early 2026, there were 987,120 immigrants in Norway, accounting for 17.5% of the country’s population. Another 238,507 people were born in Norway to immigrant families, accounting for 4.2% of the population. Collectively, people of immigrant origin make up more than one-fifth of the country’s population.
The largest group of immigrants in Norway remains those from Poland—111,740 thousand people. Next are Ukraine—85,461 thousand, Lithuania—43,065 thousand, Syria—42,040 thousand, Sweden—37,732 thousand, Germany—28,145 thousand, Somalia—27,769 thousand, Eritrea—25,819 thousand, the Philippines—25,673 thousand, and Pakistan—24,821 thousand people.
The structure of immigration to Norway reflects a combination of several waves: labor migration from EU countries and Eastern Europe, refugee migration from Syria, Somalia, Eritrea, and Ukraine, as well as long-standing diaspora communities from Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, and other countries. Ukrainian migration is characterized by rapid growth over a short period and a high proportion of women and children among those who arrived after 2022.
Norway remains one of the countries with the most powerful passports in the world. According to the Henley Passport Index, the Norwegian passport is among the most prestigious and grants visa-free or simplified entry to over 180 countries. Since 2020, Norway has allowed dual citizenship.
According to The Serbian Economist, the European Commission believes that Serbia’s granting of citizenship to Russian citizens poses potential security risks to the EU, as holders of Serbian passports are entitled to visa-free entry into EU countries.
Guillaume Mercier, the European Commission’s Enlargement Commissioner, stated that this issue had already been raised in the 2025 Enlargement Report. In that report, the European Commission recommended that Serbia continue to align with EU visa policy and ensure more thorough screening of third-country nationals, particularly those from countries that may pose security risks or contribute to illegal migration.
At the same time, the scale of Serbia’s naturalization of Russians remains incomparably lower than in EU countries. According to Serbia’s Migration Profile, 191 former Russian citizens received Serbian citizenship in 2024. In 2023, there were 532 such cases, and in 2022, 275.
By comparison, Germany alone granted citizenship to 12,980 former or current Russian citizens in 2024. That is nearly 68 times more than Serbia granted in the same year. Spain granted citizenship to 2,588 Russians, Finland to about 1,600, Switzerland to 815, Norway to 782, and the United Kingdom to over 2,300.
According to Eurostat, in 2024, approximately 31,000 Russians received citizenship in EU countries.
Estimated data on the granting of citizenship to Russians in Europe in 2024:
EU total – about 31,000 people
Germany – 12,980
Spain – 2,588
United Kingdom – over 2,300
Finland – about 1,600
Switzerland – 815
Norway – 782
Serbia – 191
For Belgrade, this issue is part of a broader dialogue with Brussels regarding visa policy, migration, and European integration.
For Serbia itself, the situation is ambiguous. On the one hand, the country is interested in maintaining relations with Russia, attracting capital and migrants, and supporting a visa-free regime for Russians. On the other hand, visa and migration policy could become an additional source of friction in relations with the EU.
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In 2025, Spain granted citizenship to a record number of foreign residents—299,732 people—which is 18.7% more than the previous year. This was the highest figure since 2013, when the INE began compiling these statistics. In 2024, 252,476 foreigners received Spanish citizenship; in 2023, 240,208; and in 2022, 181,581.
The largest group of new Spanish citizens in 2025 were immigrants from Morocco—42,114 people. They were followed by citizens of Colombia—37,712, Venezuela—36,271, Honduras—20,745, Peru—15,920, Cuba—14,390, Ecuador—13,689, Argentina—11,291, the Dominican Republic—9,915, and Nicaragua—8,951
Thus, nine out of the ten largest groups of new Spanish citizens came from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. This reflects the specifics of Spanish legislation: for citizens of Ibero-American countries, as well as certain other categories, the residency requirement for applying for citizenship can be significantly shorter than the standard 10-year period.
In terms of the method of obtaining citizenship, the majority of cases involved naturalization through residency—253,836. Another 45,715 people obtained citizenship through an option applicable, in particular, to individuals who were under the parental authority of a Spanish citizen, or to those whose father or mother was Spanish and was born in Spain.
Women accounted for 55.4% of Spain’s new citizens, while men accounted for 44.6%. The largest age group was people aged 30 to 39, followed by those aged 40 to 49.
Regionally, the highest number of new citizens was registered in Catalonia—70,933—and the Community of Madrid—69,566. Together, these two regions accounted for 46.9% of all cases of Spanish citizenship acquisition in 2025. They were followed by the Valencian Community—32,388, Andalusia—27,538, the Basque Country—14,230—and the Canary Islands—13,366
Ukrainian citizens were also included in Spain’s naturalization statistics but do not belong to the largest groups of new citizens. According to a detailed INE table, 2,588 Ukrainian citizens obtained Spanish citizenship in 2024.
In 2023, there were 2,693 such cases, in 2022 – 3,206, in 2021 – 2,167, and in 2020 – 2,254.
The Ukrainian presence in Spain remains significant. According to data from Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, as of December 31, 2025, there were 338,576 Ukrainian citizens in the country with valid residence permits. By March 31, 2026, that number had risen to 345,995 people.
The growth in the number of new Spanish citizens is occurring against the backdrop of an increase in the country’s foreign population and Madrid’s active migration policy. Spain remains one of the key destinations for migrants from Latin America, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, as well as one of the EU’s most popular markets for relocation, labor migration, and real estate purchases.
These statistics are important for the real estate market, as naturalization and long-term residency boost domestic demand for housing. Unlike traditional foreign investors, new citizens and long-term residents are more likely to purchase real estate not only for investment or vacation purposes, but also for permanent residence, work, family integration, and their children’s education.
For Ukrainians, Spain also remains a notable destination for residence, although the mass naturalization of Ukrainian citizens has not yet reached the scale seen among Latin American and Moroccan groups.
