Saturday, October 3, 2015

How to get Permanent Residence in Kazakhstan?

A slightly different version of this Article has been published in Caravanistan - A Silk Route Forum. The article you can read here by following the link.

Or, in my blog below, a little longer version of it can be read on how to get Permanent Residence in Kazakhstan. If you are a foreigner looking for settling down in Kazakhstan by obtaining Permanent residence in Kazakhstan, please read this blog.

Kazakhstan Permanent Residency

Most of the foreigners who have got married with Kazakh Man or Woman may like to settle down in

Kazakhstan. Kazakh Government provides "Permanent Residence" card for such people and it will be

valid till the expiry of Passport of such foreigners. In the process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the

Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Security Council (NSC, they are also called KNB or Kazakh

KGB in popular discourse), and migration police are involved.

The foreigners need to apply from the embassies or consulates of Republic of Kazakhstan (RoK)

located in their countries or in consulates/embassies located in nearest other country which looks after

such foreigners' country.

The process will take 2 months to 10 months in average but there is no definite guarantee within

which such applicant gets "Permanent Residence" of Kazakhstan. There is little clarity and a lot of

confusion due to involvement of multiple agencies in the process.

I have compiled below the list of documents required based on my experience. The information is

collected from different sources and I hope it helps to people looking to apply for Permanent

Residency in Kazakhstan.

The following documents are required from the applicant who is looking to apply for

Permanent Residency in Kazakhstan:

1. Duly filled application form;

2.  Consent of a national of the Republic of Kazakhstan (inviting party)  allowing the foreigner

to stay in the flat or house owned by the inviting party;

3. Copies of documents confirming permanent residence of an inviting party in the Republic of

Kazakhstan;

4. Document confirming an exit permit for permanent residence abroad issued by the competent

authority of the state of nationality or permanent residence of an applicant;

5. Document confirming financial solvency during the period of stay in the Republic of

Kazakhstan;

6. Statement of good health of an applicant and his/her family members in respect of illnesses

mentioned in the list of illnesses, which incidence prohibits the entry of foreigners and

stateless persons in the Republic of Kazakhstan;

7. Statement of presence (absence) of convictions.

In theory, above 7 documents should be sufficient to get the permanent residence. However, there is

every chance that the authorities may ask additional documents or above documents in specific

formats or should contain particular language or phrase.

After you submit the documents in the consulates or embassies outside Kazakhstan, the consular will

take your interview and will forward the documents to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) along with

his comments and recommendations. MFA will send it to Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and MIA

to National Security Council (NSC). The final decision maker is NSC based on your documents and

based on the inputs provided by Consular, MFA & MIA.

Once the decision is made, NSC forwards it to MIA, MIA to MFA and MFA to Consulates/Embassy

from where you applied. Consulate will inform you but in practice, it is suggested to contact

Consulate every week or on fortnight basis.

After the decision reaches Consulate (and if it is positive!), you need to apply for J2 Visa (applicable

to most of the foreigners) from the consulate which will be valid for 90 days. The moment you land at

Kazakhstan, the final leg of application for Permanent Residency Card starts which will take

approximately 40 days. That is the end of getting Permanent Residency in Kazakhstan. Keep in mind

that getting J2 Visa is not equivalent to getting Permanent Residency. J2 Visa expires within 90 days

and you must get Permanent Residency Card within those 90 days.

Wishing you all the very best!

I intend to run a small consultancy to advise you on PR Process by charging a small fee. Please feel

free to contact me via comments.

Regards,

IndianGuy

19 comments:

  1. Hello, i've been told that i can apply for the J2 Visa only after 3 years from marriage certificate date !?

    has the rules been changed ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, The rules have not been changed. As per the rules which are currently applicable, you can apply for Kazakh PR only 3 years after the marriage. Let me know if you need any further support or clarification. Regards, Indian Traveller

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello, Does it possible to apply for PR as an unmarried? Actually I've been lived in Kazakhstan for 5 years. Is there any way to get PR or J2 visa?
    Waiting for reply!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Syed, As far as I know, only those foreigners who are married with Kazakh people will get PR or J-2 Visa. Or, they should be ethnic Kazakhs migrating from other countries. I am not aware of any other conditions under which you can get PR/J-2 Visa.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, I got some more info for you. The egov.KZ sites says the following:

    "Before arranging residence permit, it is necessary to live officially in the country at least three years. Officially is means that the foreigner on arrival arranges temporary registration and is regular on necessary terms, prolongs it. After, based on these papers, it will be possible to prove that it is in the territory of the country required time."

    So, are you in Kazakhstan Now? Do you want me to understand more on it from Migration Police Astana? This will be chargeable, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear IndianGuy,

    I have some question regarding Kazakhstan Permanent Visa. My name is Kouros, and married to a Kazakh girl 2 and half years ago. I have been working here for last two years in IITU University in Almaty. However based on some new regulation, they cannot prolong my working visa fast any more for next academic year and it may take around 7 months since I need to do nostrification for my university documents which takes 5 months.

    I want to know more about the PR visa and if there is any possibility to make the process faster. I heard if I can find some connection or giving some bribes, they may issue the visa faster. And, also I heard that they may not issue the visa even if I provide all documents.

    I really appreciate if you can guide me about the process and inform me if you have any suggestion.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I did not understand what you mean by "nostrification of University documents" but anyway, there is no short-cut. Please start collecting all the documents and apply as soon as your marriage is 3 years old. It will take 7-10 months after submitting an application. There is no easy process. If you want to discuss more, please send me your whatsapp number.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello,

    I need a Details please help me..I am from India,I have worked in Abu Dhabi Plaza Project Up to December 2015 Now I got an another opportunity in Astana. Regarding that my new company asking me to submit original Certificate of my Master Graduation with attested. I just Completed everything and i sent it to Astana. In my certificate there is only Apostille stamp(Permission to work in Kazakhstan and proof of originality) is there

    But Now the Company is asking me where is the Kazakhstan embassy stamp for the proof. But KZ embassy in india they told Aposttile is enough.

    So I really Confusing now, what should i need to do next. Please help me

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello Unknown, You are right. KZ Embassy in India does not put stamp on documents which have Apostille Marks. Please explain this to your company, they would understand it. You can also take the photo of Notice put up by KZ Embassy in Delhi where they have told that they will not put a Stamp as it is not required if there is Apostille Stamp. The Notice is put on the board in the area from where you submit your visa documents. Maybe you can check different KZ Embassy websites and find out if they have mentioned something to this effect. It should help you. All the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi sir I'm kashif from Pakistan I need your help to know how to get j-2 vise nd one more think I married with kazak girl but still I'm confused how I get j-2 visa nd what is requirements for this visa .so right now I'm in Pakistan tell me sir what should I do nd what document the need in Pakistan at Kazakhstan embassy kindly help me about this .

      Delete
    2. Hi sir I'm kashif from Pakistan I need your help to know how to get j-2 vise nd one more think I married with kazak girl but still I'm confused how I get j-2 visa nd what is requirements for this visa .so right now I'm in Pakistan tell me sir what should I do nd what document the need in Pakistan at Kazakhstan embassy kindly help me about this .

      Delete
    3. Hi sir I'm kashif from Pakistan I need your help to know how to get j-2 vise nd one more think I married with kazak girl but still I'm confused how I get j-2 visa nd what is requirements for this visa .so right now I'm in Pakistan tell me sir what should I do nd what document the need in Pakistan at Kazakhstan embassy kindly help me about this .

      Delete
    4. Hi Kashif, Please go through the post above and start collecting documents for getting J-2 Visa in Kazakhstan.

      Delete
  10. Hi IndianGuy!

    I am an Indian Citizen and my name is Shakti, I resides in Delhi, I am travelling to Kazakhstan to marry my girlfriend( from four years ) this september on tourist visa. I want to marry there in Shymkent, South Kazakhstan and get marriage registered in local body. My question is how I can stay there(Shymkent , Kazakhstan) after marriage. Please help me and you can contact me on my email address " shakti2014delhi@gmail.com "

    ReplyDelete
  11. Please go through my blog on Permanent Residence in Kazakhstan. You will get an idea on PR Laws of Kazakhstan. Let me know if you have any more questions.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Indian Traveller

    I have read your blog post but I have received conflicting information from the Kazakh embassy in India. I have been informed that one can only apply for a Residence Permit after being married to a Kazakh for 3 years (I have been married to a Kazakh national for a little more than 1 year now). Could you confirm this?

    It is also difficult to get a Work Permit due to the restrictions imposed on companies that apply for the same. I am now faced with a situation where I have to travel back to India or at least outside Kazakhstan every 3 months when my Private Visa expires.

    Are you based in Almaty? If you are aware of any ways around this I would be interested in meeting you to discuss it.

    Best Regards
    Vikram

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello Vikram, you are right. The information given by the Kazakh Embassy in India is absolutely correct. You can apply for a Residence Permit only 3 years after your marriage. Till then, you have to take recourse to "Private Visa" and "Tourist Visa". If you do that, you need to leave Kazakhstan again and again after expiry of such visas as these visas can not be renewed.

    There is something called "Family Reunification Visa". You can try this one but the documents required are almost the same as for "Residence Permit".

    I found the following information regarding Family Reunification Visa. It is better your partner/Wife goes to Migration Police (Ministry of Internal Affairs - MIA) and inquire more about it. Good Luck!

    Clause 2. Family Reunification Visa for the Republic of Kazakhstan

    52. K1, K2 and K3 visas are issued to visa recipients, traveling to the Republic of Kazakhstan for the purpose of family reunification.

    53. K1 visa is issued on the basis of an instruction of the RoK MFA or an invitation of nationals of the Republic of Kazakhstan residing in the Republic of Kazakhstan as agreed upon with the RoK MIA.

    54. K2 visa is issued on the basis of an instruction of the RoK MFA or an invitation of foreigners and stateless persons, who are ethnic Kazakhs or former compatriots, and received a temporary residence permit in the Republic of Kazakhstan (for a period not less than two years) as agreed upon with the RoK MIA.

    55. K3 visa is issued on the basis of an instruction of the RoK MFA or an invitation of foreigners and stateless persons permanently residing in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as business immigrants, as agreed upon with the RoK MIA.

    56. Inviting persons are:
    1) Nationals of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
    2) Ethnic Kazakhs and former compatriots temporarily residing in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
    3) Immigrants, permanently residing in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and business immigrants.

    For the purpose of family reunification inviting persons shall apply for entry into the Republic of Kazakhstan of their family, who are visa recipients, in accordance with the Law.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Indian Traveller

    Well, it's disappointing to hear that there are such few options. But thank you for your time and advice, we'll check about the Family Reunification visa and in general with the Migration Police.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hello,
    I just would like to ask about some information
    I got positive answer from Kazakhstan about my decuments for j2 visa
    I want to know :
    1- will I get my decuments back from the embassy or no ??
    2- there is any important decuments I need from my country to apply for resiedent card in Kazakhstan ??
    3- how much I have to pay for the embassy when I apply for j2 visa after the agree $$ ?
    4- how long it will exactly the resident card ??
    Thanks so much and I appreciate your help

    ReplyDelete