While a particularly strong passport can grant its holders seamless entry into hundreds of the world’s countries, most travelers do require visas to visit a significant portion of the world.
Due primarily to worsening relations with a number of countries over the last decade, the U.S. passport has fallen from its place as the most powerful in the world in 2014 to its current 12th place on the Henley Index in 2025. While a citizen of Singapore can enter 195 countries either without a visa or with one that can obtained immediately upon arrival, holders of an American passport have this access for 177 countries.
A landlocked nation in east-central Africa bordered by four other countries, Rwanda has in its post-war future been attracting a rising number of wealthy travelers looking to experience remote volcanic mountain reserves and activities like gorilla trekking (as most travelers come in through private tour, Rwanda periodically lands in round-ups of the most expensive destinations in the world to visit).
Citizens of these countries can now enter Rwanda without a visa
As part of its efforts to draw in more middle-range tourists, the government of Rwanda has recently made significant changes to its border rules in order to grant visa-free access to other African citizens and foreigners who are already in a nearby African country.
Citizens of all 55 countries making up the African Union can now cross into Rwanda freely for periods of up to 30 days. While Rwanda is not a member of the East African Community, citizens of the diplomatic union, akin to the EU, that includes Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are able to do the same for a period of up to 60 days.
As part of two separate agreements, Rwanda also signed an agreement with the West African nation of Togo and Liberia to allow anyone who is already in one of the countries to travel to the other without the need for additional visas.
Rwanda attracts tourists looking to experience volcanic rainforests and activities like gorilla trekking.
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Traveling to Africa? These are some of the other recent changes to entry rules
Similar moves to allow for visa-free travel between neighboring countries have also recently been put in place by fellow African countries like Ghana and Burkina Faso. Those flying into Rwanda directly from many non-African countries can generally apply for a visa upon arrival, either at the airport or land border, for $50 USD and then use it to travel between countries with visa-free agreements with Rwanda.
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U.S. citizens are among the nationals who can get an upon-arrival visa at a Rwandan port of entry.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries are not, however, currently at a high point; at the start of March, the U.S. State Department imposed visa restrictions on several “senior Rwandan officials” over accusations of “fueling instability” in the neighboring nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo and supporting its M23 rebel group.
The Rwandan government has previously defended the group’s actions as protecting the rights of the Tutsi ethnic group over a conflict that dates back decades.
Related: Another country getting ready to scrap visas for Americans