TASHKENT -- Uzbekistan is continuing work to end its status as the only post-Soviet country that requires travelling citizens to obtain exit visas, CA-News.org reported Tuesday (August 8), quoting the Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov Monday (August 7) convened an inter-agency meeting to hear about progress made on issues that came up during his July 5 dialogue with Uzbekistani citizens.
Several steps to eliminate exit visas are in the process of inter-agency reconciliation, according to officials who gave presentations. They include ending the requirement to have a sticker in the passport giving a citizen permission to travel abroad and gradually introducing passports that serve solely as travel documents, and not also as domestic ID documents.
Exit visas have become a lucrative source of bribes for Uzbekistani passport and visa officials. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in July signed an order to government officials to form a plan within one month for reforming the country's passports.
