Mongolia

[yuli]

anyone have any experience with "exit visas" either in Mongolia or elsewhere?

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: http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/may/31bsp.htm

[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.

[zyzzx]

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.

Doesn't Japan have something similar? I remember hearing about foreigners lining up for it after the earthquake/tsunami.

[Gman]

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'.

[sandman]

We needed exit permits for several years when I first lived in Taiwan.

[yuli]

Doesn't Japan have something similar? I remember hearing about foreigners lining up for it after the earthquake/tsunami.

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?

[sandman]

Doesn't Japan have something similar? I remember hearing about foreigners lining up for it after the earthquake/tsunami.

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?

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.

[yuli]

The exit permits I remember having to apply for [...] 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.

Those things still seem to exist - for special circumstances as shown here: http://acs.ait.org.tw/report-birth-abroad.html

If neither parent is a citizen of Taiwan: Your child must have an exit permit in the new U.S. passport in order to leave Taiwan. An exit permit may be obtained from the National Immigration Agency. AIT will provide contact information when we deliver the new passport to you.

Was it maybe tax-related?

Sounds like it - see this old file from 1984:
http://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...

[bababa]

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'.

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?"

[yuli]

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.

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.