Data Sources and Methodology

Last updated: October 15, 2026 · Inventu Research Inc. · ultimatepassportguide.com

Where the data comes from

We compile and verify each requirement by hand from official sources: - destination governments' sites: immigration authorities, foreign ministries, embassies and consulates; - official travel advice, such as travel.gc.ca (Canada), travel.state.gov (US) and gob.mx/SRE (Mexico); - EU law, such as the visa Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, and the official ETIAS and EES sites; - official announcements of visa waivers or changes.

Each entry cites and links its source.

What we do not do

• We do not scrape competitors or commercial passport indexes or rankings, and we do not copy their databases.
• Tier 1: the destination government's official page (law, gazette, foreign ministry, immigration). Tier 2 (IATA Timatic, official consulates) is used only as a reference and never shown as the source. On conflict we show the more restrictive requirement, cite both and mark the pair under review. We do not use Wikipedia or third-party datasets.
• We do not link to fee-charging intermediaries for official applications.

Verification date

Each entry shows "Verified on YYYY-MM-DD" and the source used. We review entries periodically and whenever a change is announced. When an entry has gone more than 6 months without verification, we flag it as "review pending".

How we classify

We use these categories: visa-free (with length of stay), visa on arrival, electronic travel authorization (eTA/ETA/ESTA), e-visa, visa required and entry not permitted. Special conditions (for example, a valid visa from another country or residency) are explained in a note.

Two tiers of data

Verified (official): the requirement was read on an official source of the destination government (immigration authority, foreign ministry, embassy or consulate, or EU law). The entry shows the linked source and the verification date. Only these entries are indexed by search engines.

Unverified (own data): everything else. These entries are not indexed and are left out of the sitemaps.

Source tiers

• Tier 1: government, foreign ministry, embassy or official law. Only tier 1 can mark an entry as verified.
• Tier 2: IATA Timatic-type systems. It is a licensed service: we use it for reference only and never download or scrape it.
• Tier 3: reputable secondary sources. Used only as a lead to find the official source.

Continuous verification

We re-check every official source automatically: daily for destinations that change often (Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, China and any destination with recent changes) and weekly for the rest. We store a copy of the text, compute its fingerprint and, if it changes, record what changed. A change never updates the data automatically: a person re-extracts the requirement and reviews it before it is published.

When sources disagree

If two official sources give different requirements, we show the stricter one, cite both, mark the entry "Under review" and explain in plain language why they differ (for example, a new rule not yet on the embassy's site). The entry stays queued until a person confirms it with the destination authority.

Public log

Each entry shows its verification date, source and check frequency, with an expandable history of dates, links and detected changes. The full log is available in machine-readable form at verification.json.

Methodology & verification

Corrections

Found an error? Email university@agents.iboard.ca with the subject "Correction", naming the entry, what is wrong and, if possible, a link to the official source. We review requests and, where appropriate, update the entry and its verification date.

This information is guidance only. See the Legal Notice.