The German passport can enter 153 of the 194 destinations we track for it without arranging a visa in advance; the American passport 151 of 194. That puts Germany ahead by 2 destinations.
| ENTRY ROUTE | Germany | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Visa Not Required | 119 | 111 |
| Visa On Arrival | 25 | 33 |
| Electronic Travel Authorization | 9 | 9 |
| E-Visa | 49 | 49 |
| Embassy Visa | 14 | 23 |
A destination offering several routes is counted under each, so columns can sum past the totals above — the headline figure counts each destination once, by its easiest route.
Destinations both passports can head to without a visa arranged in advance — but not through the same door. Each entry links to the full requirements for that passport.
| DESTINATION | GERMANY | UNITED STATES |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | Electronic Travel Authorization | Visa Not Required |
| Gambia | Visa Not Required | Visa On Arrival |
| Samoa | Visa Not Required | Visa On Arrival |
| Solomon Islands | Visa Not Required | Visa On Arrival |
| Sri Lanka | Electronic Travel Authorization | Visa On Arrival |
| Timor-Leste | Visa Not Required | Visa On Arrival |
| Tonga | Visa Not Required | Visa On Arrival |
| Tuvalu | Visa Not Required | Visa On Arrival |
Where German citizens travel without a prior visa and American citizens do not.
Where American citizens travel without a prior visa and German citizens do not.
Reach counts the sovereign countries a passport enters without arranging a visa before travel — visa-free entry, visa on arrival, or an electronic travel authorisation. Both passports are scored over the same 194 countries: the sovereign destinations we hold data on for both of them. Overseas territories are excluded from the score on purpose — a country's own territories never appear in its own visa rules (Gibraltar is not "abroad" for a British citizen), so counting them would hand one side destinations the other could never have. That shared set is what makes this comparison fair; published indices count their own universes, so their totals differ from ours. Full lists: visa requirements for German citizens · visa requirements for American citizens.