During the recent visit of President Enkhbayar to the United States, a large number of press reports suggested that Mongolians may soon be able to travel to the United States without visas.  This is not true.

The U.S. Congress makes the laws which govern participation in the visa waiver program, and there are no provisions for exemptions or exceptions for Mongolia or any other countries.  This information is on the State Department and Embassy websites and has been made available to interested parties.

To qualify under U.S. law for the visa waiver program, countries must have a low refusal rate of less than 3% and a low overstay rate.

The non-immigrant visa refusal rate for Mongolia of nearly 50% is similar to that of other developing nations and well above the 3% threshold.  The 9/11 Law of August 2007 introduced security enhancements for the Visa Waiver Program.  The new law allows the Visa Waiver Program’s three percent nonimmigrant visa refusal rate criterion to be waived for countries that meet the law’s many enhanced security requirements and that have either a visa refusal rate of 10 percent or less or an overstay rate below a maximum rate, yet to be established.

Some informal estimates put Mongolia’s long-term overstay rate as high as 70%.  A recent study indicates the overstay rate – Mongolians who stay in the U.S. illegally, violating their visa status – is at least 16% or more.  The long-term number will probably be higher as this was a short-term study.  This means at least one out of every six Mongolians receiving a visa will violate U.S. laws and not return as they said they would.

Some unscrupulous visa brokers encourage many qualified but uninformed applicants to use fake or fraudulent documents, which makes an otherwise qualified applicant ineligible for a visa for 10 years.

The above problems must be addressed before Mongolia could qualify for visa waiver status under U.S. law.  Considering the high incidence of fraud and the high refusal and overstay rates, it would take considerable time and effort for Mongolia to meet the legal requirements.  The Embassy would welcome Mongolian efforts to combat visa fraud.  In addition, Mongolians who receive U.S. visas would serve their fellow citizens by using their visas for the designated purposes only and by returning to Mongolia during the time period authorized.  Growing Mongolia’s economy would also qualify more applicants and make Mongolia a more attractive place to return to.  Our two governments are working together to facilitate the travel of qualified applicants.

Visa applicants should refer to the Embassy’s website for additional information in both Mongolian and English.