Visa (document) - Exit Visas

Exit Visas

Some countries have a requirement that an individual obtain an exit visa (i.e., permit) to leave the country. This happens mostly in countries where there is political, economic or social turmoil that results in a rise in emigration. Sometimes this requirement also applies to foreign nationals.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have an exit visa requirement, particularly for foreign workers. Hence at the end of a foreign worker's employment period, the worker must secure clearance from his/her employer stating that the worker has satisfactorily fulfilled the terms of his/her employment contract or that the worker's services are no longer needed. The exit visa can also be withheld if there are pending court charges that need to be settled or penalties that have to be meted out.

The communist government in Nepal requires citizens leaving the country to work abroad to present an exit visa issued by the labor ministry. This document is called a labor permit and needs to be presented to immigration in order to leave the country.

During the fascist rule in Italy, an exit visa was required from 1922 to 1943. Nazi Germany required exit visas from 1933 until its collapse in 1945 .

The Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies required exit visas both for emigrants and for those who wanted to leave the USSR for some time. Uzbekistan is the last remaining former USSR country that still requires an exit visa (a visa is valid for a two-year period). There has been explicit UN criticism of this practice, which can be a means of controlling political dissidents ("exit visa can be easily used to stop human rights defenders from leaving the country"). Cuba announced in October 2012 its plans to remove exit visa requirements to be effective January 14, 2013, abeit with some exceptions.

Some countries, such as Russia or Czech Republic, require that an alien who needs a visa on entry be in possession of a valid visa upon exit. To satisfy this formal requirement, exit visas need sometimes to be issued.

For example, Russia requires an exit visa if a visitor stays well past the expiration date of their visa. They must then extend their visa or apply for an exit visa and are not allowed to leave the country until they show a valid visa or have a permissible excuse for overstaying their visa (e.g., a note from a doctor or a hospital explaining an illness, missed flight, lost or stolen visa). In some cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can issue a Return-Home certificate that is valid for ten days from the embassy of the visitor's native country, thus eliminating the need for an exit visa.

A foreign citizen granted a temporary residence permit in Russia needs a temporary resident visa to do a trip abroad (valid for both exit and return). Colloquially it also called exit visa.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 13, part 2, proclaimed in 1948 that "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."