Passports where the captioned country is shown in italics are issued by entities that lack widespread diplomatic recognition. However, even though Taiwan maintains official relations with only 22 countries, its Republic of China (ROC) passport is still accepted as a valid travel document in most countries of the world. Although its passport enjoys (for nationals with rights of abode in Taiwan) visa-free (or visa on arrival access) status in 137 countries, ranking the ordinary Taiwanese passport 29th in the world (tied with Uruguay) according to the Visa Restrictions Index., some countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, the People's Republic of China, Jamaica and Mauritius, pursuant to their positions on Taiwan's political status, refuse to visé or stamp ROC passports, and instead issue visas