Kazakhstan reforms immigration policy, reduces threshold for investor visa

By Moustafa Daly

Kazakhstan, one of Central Asia’s largest economies, announced it is overhauling its immigration policy in a bid to attract skilled migrants and investors.

The Chairperson of the Migration Committee at the Kazakh Ministry of Labor, Askarbek Yertayev, announced the news in a recent press conference, saying they are easing restrictions for skilled foreign labor and planning to lower the investment threshold to qualify for the country’s A-5 investor visa.

“Potential investors can now obtain an individual identification number and an electronic digital signature under a simplified procedure at diplomatic missions, following the single application principle,” Yertayev told the media. “Additionally, there are plans to lower the required investment threshold for business investors to qualify for an investor visa down to $300,000,” he added.

As it stands, Kazakhstan offers the A-5 investor visa to foreign “head or deputy head or other official person doing investment activities in Kazakhstan,” reads the government’s official website for the visa. Successful applicants can live in the country, launch businesses, own property, and hire labor. The visa is valid for up to five years and doesn’t entail minimum residency requirements.

The new migration policy is set to introduce a new type of investor visa, the A-6 investor visa, which would be granted to foreign investors for ten years in exchange for $300,000 or more in investments. Other perks of the A-6 visa are yet to be fully announced.

Would the new Kazakh visa policy possibly target Russian investors? 

At the press conference, Yertayev said that 76 foreign investors have been granted the investor visa so far this year. Though he did not specify the nationality of the investors, media reports assume they come from neighboring Russia.

Kazakhstan shares strong cultural ties with Russia, with the Russian language widely spoken in the country. Additionally, Kazakhstan shares the world’s second-longest border with Russia, which made it a popular destination for Russians fleeing the war in Ukraine, particularly after Russia announced a military mobilization late last year and the increasing difficulty for Russians to relocate to Western nations.

According to Kazakh government figures released earlier this year, Russian immigrants to the country reached over 300,000 since the start of the war. 

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