The authorities of Turkmenistan will oblige citizens traveling abroad to pass a psychological test, be interviewed by an employee of the Ministry of National Security (MNB) and sign guarantees to return to the country before the visa expires. This was reported by the Turkmen service of Radio Liberty (Radio Azatlyk).
New requirements, according to Radio Azatlyk, have come into force, in particular, in one of the regions of the country – the Balkan velayat. The authorities of the region submit to the Ministry of National Security the lists of people who have issued visas to travel abroad, after which they are summoned to the local administration. Here, Turkmen citizens, as the newspaper notes, are interviewed by an employee of the Ministry of National Security, who oversees migration issues.
At the interview, an employee of the Ministry of National Security checks the data on the absence of a criminal record among relatives in three generations and requires them to write a letter of guarantee to return home. He also warns that citizens who decide to stay abroad or do not arrive at home before the expiration of the visa will be prosecuted.
After an interview with an MNS employee, the traveler must fill out a questionnaire, the questions in which are similar to a “psychological test.” One of the women who applied for an exit visa told Radio Azatlyk that her application form, which contained at least 60 points, included the following questions: “Would you marry a foreigner?”, “How do you feel about drugs?”, “What messengers?” do you use?” And so on.
The passage of the new procedure, according to Radio Azatlyk, is mandatory for everyone who has received a visa to leave the country.
The migration service explained to the correspondent of the publication that additional requirements were introduced due to an increase in the number of Turkmen citizens who left the country and did not return.
The authorities of Turkmenistan have repeatedly tried to limit the number of citizens of the country traveling abroad. So, in 2022, Turkmen citizens were banned from traveling abroad if they had minor children or relatives serving sentences. And in September last year, the country’s authorities obtained from Turkey, which is one of the most popular destinations for migrants from Turkmenistan, the abolition of the visa-free regime for Turkmen citizens.
