Search "Vietnam passport ranking" on Google. You'll see simultaneously: rank 78, rank 84, rank 86. And number of countries: 48, 49, 52, over 55, 69.
Your first instinct might be to think someone made a mistake. But most of those numbers are actually correct for their time period and counting method. The problem is nobody says clearly which method they're using.
Two ranking indexes, two philosophies
In the world, two indexes are cited most often, and they differ in exactly one place.
Henley Passport Index counts strictly. It only counts destinations where a passport holder can board a plane immediately — full visa-free access, visa-on-arrival, or electronic travel authorization (ETA) issued nearly instantly. E-visas don't count, because you must submit an application and wait for approval before traveling.
Passport Index by Arton Capital counts broadly. It includes e-visas in the mobility count, on the logic that online processing and approval typically take just a few days.
Same passport, two counting methods, dramatically different numbers. That's the entire story.
Our numbers
QuocTich.com counts using the strict method, like Henley. Our data comes from a 199-passport visa matrix that we compile and continuously verify:
| Type of procedure | Number of destinations |
|---|---|
| Full visa-free access | 23 |
| Visa-on-arrival | 25 |
| Electronic travel authorization (ETA) | 4 |
| Total — strict count | 52 |
| E-visa | 46 |
| Total including e-visas — broad count | 98 |
| Visa required in advance | 100 |
By strict count, the Vietnam passport opens 52 destinations, ranking 74 among 199 passports.
Henley reports 48 to 49 destinations and rank 84 to 86 depending on the period. The difference of a few destinations comes from edge cases — whether territories are counted separately or combined, whether new rules have been added to their table yet. The difference in ranking comes from different destination sets: we rank against 199 passports, Henley ranks against 227 destinations.
Why ranking jumps more than destination count
This is something few people notice. The number of destinations changes slowly — a few countries per year. But ranking can jump dozens of positions while the destination count barely changes.
The reason is how ranking works. Henley ranks by number of points, not position. In their 2026 edition, Singapore is rank 1, Japan and South Korea are tied rank 2, then Denmark and Spain are both rank 3 — not rank 5.
Because many passports share the same number of destinations, just a few countries gaining one point can push an entire cluster in the middle of the rankings down. In January 2026, Vietnam news reported the Vietnam passport jumped 5 ranks to rank 86, the highest in 5 years — while the number of destinations actually decreased because Bolivia left the visa-free list.
Rank goes up while country count goes down. It sounds illogical but is entirely consistent with how ranking works.
Reading the numbers correctly
Three questions to ask every time you see a visa-free number:
What counting method? Does it include e-visas or not. The difference between 52 and 98 is exactly this.
Which release period? Henley updates quarterly. An article from March and an article from June cite different periods and can both be accurate at their publication date. Numbers without a date are meaningless numbers.
Rank or destination count? These two metrics don't move together. Ask for both.
What this number says about you
Rank 74 means the Vietnam passport opens roughly one-quarter of the world if you count strictly.
But the total number hides something important: the countries you can reach are not the countries most Vietnamese want to go to. In those 52 destinations, the majority are Southeast Asia, some island nations, and a few South American countries. Schengen, the United Kingdom, United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia — all still require a visa before each trip, and rejection rates are not small.
This is why many people seek a second citizenship. Not to give up Vietnamese citizenship, but to hold a passport that opens the rest of the world.
But let's be honest: a second passport is a decision costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. If your travel needs are mainly regional, 52 destinations is plenty, and that money should go elsewhere.