The German passport can enter 151 of the 192 destinations we track for it without arranging a visa in advance; the American passport 146 of 192. That puts Germany ahead by 5 destinations.
| ENTRY ROUTE | Germany | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Visa Not Required | 117 | 107 |
| Visa On Arrival | 24 | 31 |
| Electronic Travel Authorization | 10 | 9 |
| E-Visa | 49 | 49 |
| Embassy Visa | 12 | 14 |
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.
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 192 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.