The Zimbabwean passport is the 15th strongest in Africa, allowing a holder to travel to 64 countries visa-free. Globally, the Zimbabwean passport ranks 79th, together with Dominican Republic. The ranking is according to the 2020 Henley Passport Index, which ranks passports according to global mobility and access.
With 51 African countries having been included in the rankings, the Zimbabwean passport is among the most valued passports in Africa coming in at position 15. However, It’s position has weakened over the last ten years. In 2006, the passport ranked 64th globally while in 2010 it ranked 70th. Our worst ranking was in 2015 when we were 82nd the world over.
Meanwhile, access to this passport remains very much a challenge as registry grapples with a backlog of over 300 000 passports. Zimbabweans living in the diaspora who wish to renew their passports from their host countries abroad will now be required to pay US$318 dollars in order to be issued with the travel document.
In the country, you would need to be in the queue as early as 4 am to guarantee service on the day of interest, pay in United States dollars, up to US$300 for an emergency passport (1 – 3 days) which gets delivered at no fixed duration.
On top of this there are also forex shortages as passport production requires material that has to be sourced beyond our borders in foreign currency. As long as forex shortages persist, passport ownership may remain a luxury.
