Passport comparison
United Arab Emirates vs United Kingdom passport: which opens more doors in 2026?
The United Arab Emirates passport reaches 6 more destinations without a prior visa. But that headline hides the useful part: each passport opens countries the other one does not, and if you hold both, the right choice changes by destination.
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
168
destinations without a prior visa
- Visa-free
- 127
- Visa on arrival
- 36
- eTA
- 5
- e-Visa
- 16
- Visa required
- 14
- No admission
- 0
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
162
destinations without a prior visa
- Visa-free
- 118
- Visa on arrival
- 36
- eTA
- 8
- e-Visa
- 17
- Visa required
- 19
- No admission
- 0
Travel on your United Arab Emirates passport for these
17 destinations you can enter without a prior visa on the United Arab Emirates passport but not on the United Kingdom one. If you hold both, this is the list that matters.
Travel on your United Kingdom passport for these
11 destinations you can enter without a prior visa on the United Kingdom passport but not on the United Arab Emirates one. If you hold both, this is the list that matters.
Open to both: 150 destinations
150 places accept either passport without a prior visa. Here it makes no difference which one you travel on — though it can still be worth checking stay durations, which sometimes differ.
Closed to both: 19 destinations
19 destinations require a visa in advance on both the United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom passports. Holding both does not help here; you will need to apply either way.
Frequently asked questions
Which is stronger, the United Arab Emirates or the United Kingdom passport?
By destination count the United Arab Emirates passport is ahead: United Arab Emirates reaches 168 destinations without a prior visa and United Kingdom reaches 162, a difference of 6. But "stronger" is the wrong question if you hold both — what matters is which passport opens the specific country you are going to.
I hold both. Which one should I travel on?
It depends on the destination. There are 17 places that accept the United Arab Emirates passport but not the United Kingdom one, and 11 the other way round. Check the lists above before you book. Note that most countries expect you to leave on the same passport you entered with.
How current is this comparison?
The counts are rebuilt from our visa dataset on every deployment. Turkish passport data comes from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the other passports use the open-source passport-index dataset. Visa rules change without notice, so confirm your own case with an official source before you travel.
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Important: this content is general information
Visa rules can change without notice. Always confirm your situation with an official source before you travel: Also check with the embassy or consulate of your destination country in your own country. The information on this page is guidance, not legal advice.