For people of almost all countries a visa is required to visit Mongolia.
However not so for citizens of the United States of America who do not
require a visa to visit Mongolia.

Any idea why Mongolia exempts US citizens of the Visa requirement?

Cheers
Mongolia

Hi mongolia,

The reason why the requirement of a Mongolian visitor's visa is waived
for Americans is because of bilateral agreements between the United
States and Mongolia,  other countries have similar agreements with
Mongolia.

"Foreigner must have a Mongolian visa, except when bilateral
arrangements provide for waiver of visa requirement."
http://www.un.int/mongolia/travad.htm

Mongolian Visa Information: Who needs visas?
"Generally, everyone entering Mongolian territory must have a visa.
However, because of bilateral agreements made with some countries,
this is not always the case."
The following is a list of countries and regions with non-visa
requirements for all kinds of passport holders:
    * Malaysia ? for up to 30 days
    * Singapore ? for up to 14 days
    * Philippines ? for up to 21 days
    * Poland ? for up to 90 days (ordinary passport holders must have
letter of invitation)
    * Israel ? for up to 30 days
    * Kazakhstan ? for up to 90 days
    * Kyrgyzstan - for up to 90 days
      Cuba ? for up to 30 days
    * Hong Kong ? for up to 14 days (ID cards are accepted to indicate
residence in Hong Kong)
    * Laos ? for up to 90 days (although private visits need a visa)
    * DPRK ? for up to 30 days (although private visits need a visa)
    * Former Yugoslavia ? for up to 90 days (although passports must
have the consular mark indicating the reason for travel)
http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/virtualmongolia/visas.htm#1

UNITED STATES: MONGOLIA 
"*Passport required. Visa not required for a stay of less than 90
days. Tourist and business travelers may be asked to show letter of
invitation or a letter from a Mongolian company, and onward/return
ticket. AIDS test required for students and anyone staying longer than
3 months; U.S. test accepted. Visitors planning to stay in Mongolia
for more than 1 month are required to register with the Immigration,
Naturalization and Foreign Citizens Agency within 7 days of arrival.
American visitors who fail to register and stay longer than 30 days
may be stopped at departure, denied exit, and fined. For additional
information, contact the Embassy of Mongolia, 2833 M St., NW,
Washington, DC 20007 (202/333-7117 or the UN Mission of Mongolia, 6
East 77th St., New York, NY 10021 (212/861-9460). Internet:
www.mongolianembassy.us"
http://travel.state.gov/visa/americans1.html#m

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please post a
clarification request before closing/rating my answer and I'll be
happy to reply.

Thank you, 
hummer

Google Search Terms Used:

mongolian visas
mongolia visas bilateral agreements
mongolia "tourist visa"
mongolia visitor visas

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Request for Answer Clarification by mongolia-ga on 05 Oct 2004 06:28 PDT

dear hummer

Thank you for the information provided. I would like to know more about the 
bilateral agreement/s between Mongolia and US which allows for the waiver 
procedure. I would also have thought that there are bilateral agreements 
between Molgolia and Russia and Mongolia and China yet Mongolia
requires visas from citizens of both these countries (Russia and
China) to visit it territory.

Thanks 

Mongolia

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 05 Oct 2004 07:58 PDT

Hi again mongolia,

Yes, you are correct:

Russia - no visa for diplomatic and official passports within 90 days,
ordinary passport holders need visa
China - no visa for all type of passport holders. Private travellers need visa
http://www.un.int/mongolia/travad.htm

I'm sorry, I would not be able to find discussions concerning China
and Russia about why they haven't changed their visa policies easily
and it would take many hours of research with the possibility that no
answer can be found online.

In regards to the United States:

Visa information for US citizen only
"Holders of US passport, who travel to Mongolia for official, private
business and tourism for up to 90 days are exempted from visa
requirements in accordance with the New Visa Policy, which is
effective since July 18, 2001 . "
http://www.mongolianembassy.us/eng_consular_and_visa/visa_info_for_us_citizen_only.php

"An agreement has been reached between Mongolia and the USA  to
facilitate on a mutual basis visa requirements for nationals of both
countries."
http://www.un.int/mongolia/usvisa.htm

I hope this helps,
hummer