Yes, i had exit visas when i was in the Soviet Union to study there and in Saudi Arabia to work there.
(And i’d guess Mongolia learned that habit from the Russians anyway.)
For your entertainment (?), here is a story about an exit visa problem: rediff.com/news/2006/may/31bsp.htm
Entertaining? Yes. Reassuring? No. 
I sent an email to Mongolexpat.com to ask some questions about the exit visa. It is so strange to my American sensibilities (where the right wing is constantly talking about kicking everyone out) that a country would force you to stay in.
[quote=“TheAmericanNomad”]Entertaining? Yes. Reassuring? No.
I sent an email to Mongolexpat.com to ask some questions about the exit visa. It is so strange to my American sensibilities (where the right wing is constantly talking about kicking everyone out) that a country would force you to stay in.[/quote]
Doesn’t Japan have something similar? I remember hearing about foreigners lining up for it after the earthquake/tsunami.
UGH, When I lived in Vancouver I met a girl from Mongolia. She couldn’t shut up about how much nicer UB was than Vancouver. Our relationship ended on the second date when after having to listen to her rag on Vancouver for a few hours non stop I drove her to the airport and dropped her off. I told her I’d pay for her ticket then and there if she agreed to leave that night and promise not to return. She declined and took a cab back to her ‘hell’.
We needed exit permits for several years when I first lived in Taiwan.
As far as i know Japan does not use exit visas - but people need re-entry permits in addition to whatever visa they have: maybe that was what some lined up for?
As far as i know Japan does not use exit visas - but people need re-entry permits in addition to whatever visa they have: maybe that was what some lined up for?[/quote]
The exit permits I remember having to apply for (in person, at the police station, neccessitating yet another trip across town) were not re-entry permits. Residents STILL need those to get back into the country, although the ifo now is embedded in the ARC.
No these were exit permits that you needed even if you had no intention of ever returning to Taiwan. You essentially had to get express permission to LEAVE. Was it maybe tax-related? I cannot remember. It used to be a real pain in the arse, though.
Those things still seem to exist - for special circumstances 
as shown here: acs.ait.org.tw/report-birth-abroad.html
Sounds like it - see this old file from 1984:
taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?x … CtNode=103
I certainly like the current ARCs and the “no extra paperwork” manner of leaving and entering Taiwan…
Culture shock. Even the worst shit-holes look good when you have been somewhere new long enough to start to get annoyed at the weird foreign ways. I’m sure if she stays in Vancouver for a year or more and then goes back, she is going to be absolutely horrified at how bad UB looks.
This happened to me when I was living in rural Sichuan. There was a Chinese woman who had been living in Victoria (the one on Vancouver Island) for 3 years. She would go on and on about how beautiful the campus was where she had worked in Sichuan. Then she returned to China and could not believe how bad things looked. “I never realized the traffic was so bad before” was one of her frequent refrains, as was “But why isn’t the sky blue?”
Being familiar with the campus in Victoria and its surroundings, i find that quite funny. 
But your explanation of the psychology involved sounds right to me.
This all reminds me of the airport safety administrator who i made friends with in Najran (Saudi Arabia), who told me much about his life and studies in England (he was fluent in British English, otherwise we could not have talked about such matters) and who also told me that he very much preferred life in his little desert (oasis) town - he was appreciative of what England had to offer and explained that his preference had a lot to do with the extreme closeness with his immediate family and tribe. My dealings with that man were most educational and enjoyable - i think his self-analysis points toward the explanation why someone from Ulan Bator or Sichuan could find Vancouver or Victoria less beautiful than their hometowns.
Good points and to a degree understandable, sometimes there’s no place like home. However, I’m from Vancouver and I feel Vancouver is much nicer than Taipei and certainly nicer than Taoyuan county. But, I certainly don’t tell this to every Taiwanese aquaintence I make here and if I did state that view, it would be a single statement made one time instead of a multi hour rant (after all that’s what Forumosa is for)
So just to clarify, I shouldn’t worry too much about the exit visa then?
There’s a section of various articles on CNN’s website right now. Just a heads up.
Edit: had a better look. Nothing too in depth. You can also find it in their “Eye On” section
hi, i just followed your discussion… time has passed now, so where did you go? did you go to teach english in mongolia after all?
i just have my CELTA and am willing to do the same… can you recommend a place where i could apply?
thanks!
xx
Eh, it’s not sensationalist. I have a friend who did Peace Corps there for 3 years. She told me numerous stories of violence against foreigners. IN some instances just walking up to a foreigner on the street and breaking her kneecaps or, in the case of a foreigner male, ganging up and fighting dirty (hitting you from the back, etc.)
YMMV but be forewarned.
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