Nearly 30 Mongolians have been protesting outside the building of the Czech Embassy to Ulaanbaatar over visa requirements. The demonstration took place on 22^nd of March and results from the fact that  Mongolians have had to wait for between 1-2 years imply to make an appointment to apply for a Czech long-term work visa. Some people made an appointment before Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian traditional spring festival (27-30^th of February), but for some reason the Czech Embassy subsequently cancelled their appointments. Making an appointment is only the first step in applying for a visa at the Embassy. The protestors said ‘Each of the visa applicants has had to pay Euro 650 to the Czech Embassy simply for making an appointment’.

Officials from the Czech Embassy explained that they hadn’t deliberately removed them from appointment list. They have proposed jointly  negotiating this matter. Furthermore,  if the Mongolians don’t stop their demonstration, they will close their Embassy and to stop issuing visas entirely.