Last month, a survey ranking passports by the number of countries they provide access to without a visa or with a visa on arrival (meaning not a lot of paperwork and scrutiny before the trip) ranked Myanmar’s as one of the “least powerful.”
But that hasn’t stopped a growing number of people from wanting one.
Last year saw some 290,000 new passport applications, Myanmar Business Today reported this week, citing the country’s Passport Department. In 2013, 210,000 people applied.
U Kyaw Nyunt, a department spokesman, told the publication that more applications came in after the validity of passports was extended from three to five years in 2012.
The rise may also be due to the fact that restrictions on outbound travel are not as stringent as they once were under the military junta, which ceded power in 2011. The process can take 10 days today, but was onerous and time-consuming in the past.
U Kyaw Nyunt, however, did not cite that as a reason.
Photo: Coconuts Media
