Obtaining visa of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Foreign citizens and stateless persons need an entry and exit permit (hereinafter – visa) to enter the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, unless another procedure is established by an international treaty of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

RK visa is a mark of the authorized state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the migrant’s passport or substitute document or a mark of the authorized state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the information system, which gives the right to enter the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, travel through its territory, stay in it and leave the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the time, for the purposes and under the conditions established in the visa.

In accordance with the Rules for issuance of invitations, coordination of invitations for entry of foreigners and stateless persons to the Republic of Kazakhstan, issuance, cancellation, restoration of visas of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as extension and reduction of their validity (hereinafter – the Rules), approved by joint order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 11-1-2/555 of November 24, 2016 and Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 1100 from November 28, 2016, for the issuance of visas in the foreign offices of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan or the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the place of actual location of the service recipient or registration of the inviting party shall be submitted the following documents and information necessary for the provision of public services “Issuance, restoration or extension on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan to foreigners and stateless persons visas for the right to leave the Republic of Kazakhstan and enter the Republic of Kazakhstan” and “Issuance, extension of visas for entry into the Republic of Kazakhstan and transit passage to the Republic of Kazakhstan”:

1.Visa application form with a color or black and white photo of 3.5 x 4.5 centimeters;
2. When issuing a visa in a foreign agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan or international airport of the Republic of Kazakhstan number, date of invitation registered in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan (the number and date of issuance of invitation to the visa recipient shall be communicated by the inviting party), or the petition of the recipient of the visa category provided for by paragraph 25 of the Rules;
3. A valid diplomatic, service, foreign passport of a foreign state, or any other identity document recognized as such by the Republic of Kazakhstan and granting the right to cross the State border of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter – passport);
4. Original payment documents confirming the payment of consular fee or state duty;
5. Additional documents required to obtain a visa in accordance with Annex 1 to the Rules.

Documents that are issued or certified by a competent institution of a foreign state or by a specially authorized person, within its competence and according to its established form, sealed with the stamp seal of a foreign state, shall be accepted only after undergoing the procedure of special certification (legalization or apostilization).

Invitation to enter the Republic of Kazakhstan on private affairs shall be submitted not earlier than 1 year and not later than 5 working days before the proposed date of entry of the visa recipient to the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The petition or note verbale shall be submitted not earlier than 90 calendar days and not later than 5 working days before the expected date of entry of the visa recipient into the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The term of consideration of the invitation is not more than 3 working days when providing the service in electronic form and not more than 5 working days – in paper form – from the date of submission of the application, except for cases specified in paragraph 16 of the Rules.

The terms of visa processing do not exceed 5 working days. When applying through the portal – 30 minutes.

Consular fees paid are not refundable.

After 5 working days, the foreigner is issued a visa of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the consular foreign office of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In cases stipulated by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the foreigner may be denied a visa RK.

Electronic visa

Electronic visa (business, tourist and medical) is issued on the basis of a valid invitation of the Kazakhstani party, issued in the subdivisions of the Migration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan in accordance with the established procedure.

Foreigners may arrive/depart to/from the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan using a valid electronic visa only through checkpoints of international airports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Electronic visas are issued to citizens of 109 states (the list of countries is attached).

The electronic visa is valid only for the visa recipient and does not apply to accompanying persons.

The passport provided by the visa recipient must meet the following criteria:

1) have no doubts about its authenticity and belonging to its owner, contain renewal marks, reservations, entries, erasures and corrections, torn or expanded pages;

2) have at least 2 blank pages;

3) it shall expire not earlier than 3 months from the date of expiry of the requested visa;

4) it must not have any renewal marks.

Hosts inform the migration authorities about foreign nationals staying with them within three working days from the day of their arrival.

Step-by-step algorithm of e-visa processing

– in order to obtain an electronic visa it is necessary to register on the Visa and Migration Portal website (www.vmp.gov.kz);

– after registration familiarize yourself with the requirements for obtaining an e-visa;

– enter the invitation number (the invitation number is sent by the inviting party in the Republic of Kazakhstan) and fill in the necessary passport data;

– pay the consular fee;

– print out the electronic visa (the visa is formed in the personal cabinet);

– to present the printed electronic visa at passport control at the international airports of Astana and Almaty.