Porady Wizowe: How to Get a Mongolian Visa in Warszawa

In the Series “Porady Wizowe“, I aim to inspire more Polish based people to travel the world by highlighting ways to get visas. I have over 10 years of visa experience, which I detailed thoroughly on the visa section of my defunct travel blog. Having been based in Poland for the last 10 months or so, I have had to source my recent visas here, of course. Granted I don’t travel as much as I did as I love Poland, but I will still attempt to help you all out.

The first proper trip I did while living in Poland was to the Russian Enclave/ Unrecognised Country/ Separate Region of Kaliningrad. Yes, visa needed and I managed to nail it third time round – I visited Kaliningrad before hanging up my backpack and deciding to settle in Poland. Then, in March 2017 as life took me east again, the chance to visit Mongolia cropped up. It was a mixture of “curiosity killed the cat”, being greedy and a cheap flight option. When I lived in Asia, I backpacked it hardcore, omitting just 8 real life countries from my travel list (Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Mongolia, Bhutan, Papua New Guinea). A “7 countries in 9 days” mission to leave my life in Asia and relocate to Poland gave me the option of a 30 day visa for Mongolia. But I had less time to organise it.

Mongolian Embassy in Warsaw
The Mongolian Embassy in Warsaw is situated on the 9th floor of a non-descript building not far from the city’s Metro Pole Mokotowskie. Exact address:

To get there, I recommend getting the Metro to Pole Mokotowskie then walking. It’s a short 5-10 minute walk. From the metro, take the south eastern side exit on the corner of Rakowiecka and Aleja Niepodleglosci and walk along Rakowiecka to the left. Take the third street on the right, Staroscinska and walk straight. About 120 metres you will see a car park with a barrier and behind it a small skyscraper. This is the building that houses the Mongolian Embassy. You don’t need to sign in but tell the receptionist/security guard you are going to Floor 9 – Mongolian Embassy.

Opening Hours of the Mongolian Embassy in Warsaw

Monday to Friday (except public holidays)

8:00 – 12:00; 13:00 – 16:00 (applications in the morning, collections in the afternoon)

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

1 January	New Year’s Day
9-11 February 2016	Tsagaan sar /Lunar New Year/
8 March	International Women’s Day
1 June	Children’s Day
11-15 July	Naadam Holiday
12 November 2015	Chingis Khan’s birthday
29 December	Independence Day

Website of the Mongolian Embassy in Warsaw
To be completely honest, the website of the Mongolian Embassy is crap and useless. It is better to call into the office yourself. The only thing useful on the website is that there is a link to download the application form.

http://ambasadamongolii.pl/home/

What Do You Need to Get a Mongolian Visa in Warsaw?
Quite simple really, though it sounds complex, but you need all of these things:

1.One passport sized photo (forfeited).
2.Printed details of your flights/trains in and out of Mongolia.
3.Printed details of your accommodation while staying in Mongolia.
4.A completed and signed application form for the Mongolian Visa. Sadly they CANNOT give these to you in the Embassy, weird but they point-blank refused. So you have to print it yourself from this link and fill it in by hand: Mongolian Visa Application Form.
5.Payment in Zloty, Euros, US Dollars or UK Pounds (to be deposited into the bank only).
6.Proof of bank deposit (receipt).
7.Your passport with 6 months left to run.

Going to the Bank in Warsaw
So after you have all your flights, hotels etc. booked, you fill in an application form, then you have to go to the bank to deposit the money into the account. The Mongolian Embassy will give you the account number to put the money into. The bank is a mission – it is not near any tubes or Metros. The closest is Nowy Swiat-Uniwersitat metro. It is the Citi Handlowy Bank on Traugutta Street.

Once you get there, just go inside and pay the correct amount in cash. My visa was $55 US but I paid in local currency, zlotys, at the time it was about 278 zloty.

Once you have paid for it, they will give you a proof of payment slip, which of course you then take to the Mongolian Embassy.

Collecting your Mongolian Visa in Warsaw
After 8 days (5 working days) I headed back to the Mongolian Embassy in Warsaw to collect my Mongolian Visa. You can ONLY collect your visa between 13.00 and 16.00 in the afternoon unless there is a special circumstance. I arrived at the embassy around 14.00 and had my visa in my hand at 14.15 despite the fact the embassy was busy that day.

You are also issued with a receipt. It is a 30 day single entry visa.

Arrival in Mongolia
Now you have your visa, there are only two more steps in the process.
1.Arriving in Mongolia. I arrived into Ulaan Baatar Airport and they stamped me in.
2.Leaving Mongolia. Many leave by train to Ulan Ude in the Republic of Buryati (one of my travel dreams still) but I left by flight again from Ulaan Baatar. You are stamped again on the way out.

I won’t be writing about Mongolia on this website as it’s Poland only, but for a secret track and an unknown fact, I have written two articles on Mongolia here:

Baatpacking in Ulaan Baatar, The Red Hero
Staying at the Kaiser Hotel, Ulaan Baatar

Safe travels!