Mongolian Immigration Registration

U.S. citizens staying in Mongolia for less than 90 days don't need to obtain a visa before entering the country. But I found out last week that foreigners staying in country for less than 90 days, but more than 30 days have to register with the Mongolian Immigration Office, lest they get stopped, held and/or fined upon attempted exit. This registry must happen within seven days of arrival and I had about three days left when I found out. Phew. Said immigration office is in a shiny new building located several kilometers away from UB's city center. Convenient, absolutely. It would be at least a thirty dollar taxi ride out and back which I wasn't enthralled about. Luckily my neighbor recalled that I can take the bus, "I think it's the number eleven?"

I had two days left to register, so I thought if the first day turned out to be a failure for taking the wrong bus or some other mis-step it wouldn't be the end of the world (or result in an exit fine). So I hopped the number 11 near the flower center a few blocks from my apartment cautiously carrying any and all important documents that the immigration office might like to see (their website was down and thus their list of '"things to bring'" was unavailable) hoping to return with legal status.

I didn't exactly know where I was going so once we skirted the city limits I kept my eyes out for any building that looked official. I got off the bus near the new sports stadium that's still under construction and wandered through some empty fields (with the exception of some milkweed, which my allergy loved...) towards the only building in a three kilometer radius that could possibly house immigration. Sure enough it was a success.

I won't bore you with the details of the registration process. I will only say that it took me three hours and the wait felt somewhat like this.

Hoorah! I'm legal now.