VISAS

The visa regime for foreigners staying in the country is determined by Kazakhstan migration laws.  Under this regime, foreigners are required to obtain a visa to enter the territory of the country and to get registered with local authorities.

There are several types of visas depending on specific purposes of stay of foreign nationals in Kazakhstan.  The most popular visas for business purposes are investor visa, business visa and work visa.  These visas may be issued as single-entry and multiple-entry visas.


Investor Visa

Investor visas are issued to CEOs and/or CEO deputies and/or heads of structural subdivisions of legal entities engaged in investment activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Investor visa holders may bring their family members to stay with them in Kazakhstan.

Multiple investor visas (A5) are valid for maximum 5 years and allow for sojourn in Kazakhstan during the entire visa validity period.  Single-entry investor visas (A5) are valid for maximum 90 days and allow for sojourn in Kazakhstan during the entire visa validity period.

Investor visas are issued by foreign missions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan subject to an invitation letter, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan subject to an application from the inviting party supported by a written request from the Kazakhstan competent authority in charge of investments.


Business Visa

Business visas are issued to foreign nationals arriving and staying in the Republic of Kazakhstan for the following business purposes:

  • participation in conferences, symposiums, forums, exhibitions, concerts and other cultural, scientific and sports events; participation in meetings, roundtables, exhibitions and expert assemblies; humanitarian aid convoy; giving lectures and classes in education institutions; and participation in youth, student and school exchange programs, except for education in Kazakhstan institutions (B1);
  • installation, repair and technical maintenance of equipment; and provision of consulting or audit services (B2);
  • negotiating and contracting; and to founders or members of a board of directors of an entity (B3);
  • international motor transportation (B4); 
  • and to crew members on board any scheduled and chartered airplanes who do not have the appropriate ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) certificates; train crew members; and crew members on board any sea or river ships (B5).

Under the standard procedure, business visa requires a letter of invitation from the inviting party and instructions from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.  Apart from the standard procedure, there is a simplified procedure for business visa issuance when only a written application of the foreign national is sufficient.  The simplified procedure may be used by the citizens of USA, Canada, France and a number of other countries determined by Kazakhstan law.

Business visas are issued by departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs abroad or, if the foreign national is in Kazakhstan, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a period of up to 1 year and, usually, allow staying in Kazakhstan for maximum 30 days (each entry).


Work Visa

Work visas are issued to foreign nationals arriving to Kazakhstan for employment purposes and to business immigrants.

In order for a foreign national to obtain a work visa, the inviting party (employer) is required to have a foreign Work Permit or the foreign national should have a permit for employment.  Certain categories of foreign nationals and stateless persons, including, but not limited to, chief executive officers of branches or representative offices of foreign legal entities, and chief executive officers of Kazakhstan entities with 100% foreign ownership structure and deputies thereof (a list of such categories is determined by Kazakhstan law), are exempt from the requirement to have a Work Permit in Kazakhstan.

Work visas are issued by departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs abroad (or, if there is no such department abroad, by authorized representatives of the Republic of Kazakhstan) for a period of up to 1 year or for a validity period of the Work Permit, and may be extended upon expiration of the initial term through a new visa issued by internal affairs authorities.

Family members of the work visa holder entering the country together with such work visa holder are not permitted to work in Kazakhstan.  Any subsequent employment of such family members in Kazakhstan is subject to a foreign work permit obtainable by their employer (save for when such permit is not required) and a new work visa.


Registration of Foreign Nationals

Foreign nationals must get registered with relevant authorities by submitting the inviting party’s notice.  It is the responsibility of the inviting party (either an individual or a corporation) to notify migration authorities on the arrival or stay of a foreign national within 3 business days after such foreign national crosses the State Border of the Republic of Kazakhstan by any of the following means:

  •         via the visa and migration website; or
  •         via the e-government website; or
  •         by filing the written notice with the relevant migration service.

Please see below the list of economically developed and politically/migrationally stable states whose citizens are not required to provide an invitation letter when applying for A3, B1, B3, B10 or B12 visas:


1.    Australia

2.    Republic of Austria

3.    United States of America

4.    Kingdom of Belgium

5.    United Arab Emirates

6.    Republic of Bulgaria

7.    Federative Republic of Brazil

8.    Federal Republic of Germany

9.    Hellenic Republic

10. Kingdom of Denmark

11. New Zealand

12. Japan

13. State of Israel

14. Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

15. Republic of Ireland

16. Republic of Iceland

17. Kingdom of Spain

18. Italian Republic

19. Canada

20. State of Qatar

21. Republic of Cyprus

22. Republic of Korea

23. Republic of Latvia

24. Republic of Lithuania

25. Principality of Liechtenstein

26. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

27. Republic of Hungary

28. Federation of Malaysia

29. Republic of Malta

30. Principality of Monaco

31. Kingdom of the Netherlands

32. Kingdom of Norway

33. Sultanate of Oman

34. Republic of Poland

35. Portuguese Republic

36. Romania

37. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

38. Republic of Singapore

39. Slovak Republic

40. Republic of Slovenia

41. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

42. Republic of Finland

43. French Republic

44. Republic of Croatia

45. Czech Republic

46. Swiss Confederation

47. Kingdom of Sweden

48. Republic of Estonia


Visa-free Regime for Citizens of a Number of Foreign States

Citizens of the following 57 countries are entitled to visa-free travel to the Republic of Kazakhstan:

1.    Australia

2.    Austria

3.    Bahrain

4.    Belgium

5.   Bulgaria

6.   Colombia

7.    UK

8.   Vatican

9.   Vietnam

10.    Hungary

11.    Greece

12.    Denmark

13.    Israel

14.  Ireland

15.  Italy

16.   Kuwait

17.   Liechtenstein

18.   Oman

19.  Spain

20.  Iceland

21.  Indonesia

22.  Canada

23.  Cyprus

24.  Latvia

25.  Lithuania

26.  Luxembourg

27.  Malaysia

28.  Malta

29.  Monaco

30.  Netherlands

31.  New Zealand

32. Norway

33. UAE

34. Poland

35. Portugal

36.  Qatar

37. Romania

38. Singapore

39. Slovenia

40. Slovakia

41. USA

42. Finland

43. France

44. Germany

45. Croatia

46. Czechia

47. Sweden

48. Switzerland

49. Estonia

50. Saudi Arabia

51.  South Korea

52. Japan

53. Mexico

54.  Philippines

55.  Thailand

56. Turkey

57. Chile

Citizens of the aforementioned states may stay in Kazakhstan without a visa for maximum 30 calendar days.  If such citizens desire to extend their stay in Kazakhstan, they must obtain any of the following visas:

  • for business purposes – a single-entry business visa valid for up to 30 calendar days; 
  • and if the applicant has a letter from investment authorities certifying the investor status – a single-entry investment visa valid for up to 90 calendar days or a multiple-entry visa valid for 3 years.

On 15 March 2020, the Republic of Kazakhstan introduced quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  Therefore, the Kazakhstan Government might apply special or extra requirements to visas, work permits and other migration documents, in which case the aforementioned procedures for the issuance of such documents might also differ.