Kazakhstan tightens rules for entry, stay of foreigners

The government of Kazakhstan has changed the rules for the entry and stay of foreigners in the republic.

According to the new procedure, which will come into force on January 27, citizens of the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), including Russians, can stay in Kazakhstan for no more than 90 days within a 180-day period, Russia Posts reports.

Previously, the so-called vizaran operated in the republic – crossing the border of the state to renew the terms of legal stay. Thanks to this, migrants whose term of stay in the country was coming to an end could leave it and return back, “resetting the counter”.

The length of stay is now limited to 90 calendar days during each period of 180 calendar days. If this period is exceeded, a foreigner who has left the country will be denied entry. Those with a temporary residence permit are not affected by the new rules.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan proposed to abandon the “visaran” in November 2022. The change in migration rules was proposed in order to ensure control over the entry of immigrants into the country, as well as to combat illegal migration.

In 2022, over 5.6 million foreigners entered Kazakhstan. As I said and about. Chairman of the Migration Service Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic Aslan Atalykov, 2.9 million of them were Russians. In September, 406,000 Russians entered the country, most of them after September 21, when partial mobilization was announced in Russia. He noted that almost 150,000 Russians who arrived in Kazakhstan since the end of September remained in the republic. Of these, 36 thousand people received temporary residence permits.