I've been writing this as I've gone through the process of registering in Mongolia as a resource for others coming to Mongolia. I hope this helps and good luck!
There are 2 registrations you need in order to live in Mongolia as an American: the "I'm going to be in Mongolia over 90 days" stamp from immigration, and the residence permit.
For registration with immigration my host institution, the Mongolian State University of Agriculture (MSUA), took my passport and a small photo and got a blue stamp in my passport. THIS MUST BE DONE WITHIN 7 BUSINESS DAYS OF ARRIVAL. Or you may face fines.
Second, I needed the residence permit. For this I needed khoroo (district) registration. This proves that you live at the address you say you live at. This must be done within 7 business days of moving into a permanent place, I think. My landlady speaks English and was able to do this for me. She required my passport, a small photo, and 5,000Tugrugs. I'm not sure if it actually costs anything but I was happy to give her the tugrugs to make things 10x easier. Then I brought my passport, a third small photo, and the paper with my khoroo registration on it back to my host institution. Me and my helper Uyanga went to the immigration office which is far away, out near the airport. I had a photo taken, fingerprints taken, and had to pay about 50,000Tugrugs. I was told to come back in a week to pick up my passport and residence permit. You must get the residence permit within 21 days of arrival. It used to be 30 days but now it's 21 days. Not all sources have updated their information, but you could still face a hefty fine (about $300) if you don't get your residence permit in the 21 days allowed, regardless of which source you were relying on.
As for small photos, there are many places in the city center where you can get them done quickly and cheaply. I was in a kiosk for about 10 minutes and paid 1,500T for 6 3x4cm photos. It was really easy. Look for the signs saying "turgen zurag" (fast photo). Some places will even have a sign that says "foto" in Cyrillic. Note though, that the photo you provide to get your residence permit will not be the photo on the ID they issue you. Instead they will use the terrible photo they took of you when you were cold, tired, and grumpy-looking when you arrived. Alas.
Also make sure you have copies of your passport and visa to keep with you while your passport is being handled.
One final note: When I received my Mongolian student visa in the US it said the validity was 3 months from when it was issued and the duration was "0". Of course this freaked me out but it's been fine. Either this is some code the Mongolian embassy uses, or, more likely, it's completely wrong but since no one person fully understands the Mongolian visa process you won't get in trouble for it. Everyone assumes that someone else knew what they were doing when they issued my visa, so they just shrug and stamp it. So far so good!
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