'Easiest' Place to get a Mongolian Visa?

Question

I'm currently in Kyrgyzstan, waiting (like so many others), for a visa - for me it's to Kazakhstan. I'll go to Almaty, then up through to Russia (Novosibirsk), across to Irkutsk and down to Mongolia.

However, I need a visa for Mongolia, being a New Zealander citizen. According to:

http://www.tourmongolia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=275%3Alist-of-mongolian-embassies-a-consulates-abroad&catid=52&Itemid=82&lang=en

I have a choice of an embassy/consulate in Almaty or Irkutsk. However, given the problems people have with visas in these countries, I'm wary that one might be more straightforward. Does anyone have any suggestions for how this may be sped up, or whether one is more likely to be easier than the other to get the visa? And by easy, I'd prefer 'fast' :D

Answer 1

In the end, I decided with Irkutsk. My reasoning:

There is a Mongolian embassy in Almaty, but it's quite far out of town, and is a hassle to get to. Also, the Kazakh police concern me a bit, and being without a passport is stressful when they're around.

In Irkutsk, you can pay for 1-4 working days processing, and it's in the center of town. It requires two forms to be filled out there and then and you also pay at the consulate, rather than at a bank or somewhere else that you would need to find. The staff all spoke English and it was remarkably simple to complete.