To employ foreign labor, employers annually, before October 1 of the year, submit to the local executive bodies of the regions, cities of republican significance, the capital (hereinafter, the local executive bodies), on the territory of which the foreign workers are expected to carry out the works, the requirement for foreign labor in accordance with Annex 1 to the Rules for setting a quota for attracting foreign labor into the Republic of Kazakhstan and distributing among the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, approved by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 15, 2016 No. 802 (hereinafter, the Rules for setting a quota).

When the Commission designated for setting a foreign labor quota issues the recommendations to meet the domestic employer’s requirements for the attracting foreign labor for the upcoming year, the employer in turn, to obtain a permit, would send to the authorized body an application for obtaining a permit to attract foreign labor with attachment of the documents provided for by the Rules and conditions for the issuance and (or) extension of permits to attract foreign labor for the employers, as well as for the intra-corporate transfers, approved by the order of the acting Minister of Health and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 27, 2016 No. 559 (hereinafter, the Rules).

In accordance with paragraph 16 of the Rules, the issuance and (or) extension of permits by the local executive body is carried out subject to the following conditions:

• the number of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan is at least 70% of the headcount employees belonging to the first and second categories; 
• the number of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan is not less than 90% of the headcount employees belonging to the third and fourth categories.

When calculating the local personnel content, the number of foreign labor does not include the citizens of the states the parties to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, ratified by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated October 14, 2014.

The employer who attracts foreign workers within the framework of an intra-corporate transfer provides the percentage of the number of foreign workers (managers and specialists) involved within the framework of an intra-corporate transfer, which is no more than fifty percent of the number of Kazakhstani personnel of the corresponding category.

For the issuance and (or) extension of the permit, the employers are charged a tax fee (hereinafter the fee) according to the collection rates for the issuance and (or) extension of the permit  to attract foreign labor to the Republic of Kazakhstan, approved by the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 3, 2018 No. 157 "On the establishment of fees for the issuance and (or) extension of the permit to attract foreign labor to the Republic of Kazakhstan."

The attraction of foreign labor within the framework of an intra-corporate transfer is carried out outside the quota and on a free basis.

To obtain the permit, the employer sends to the local executive body:

To obtain the attracting a foreign labor or to reissue a permit for another foreign worker:

1. When attracting seasonal foreign workers:

• an application in the form in accordance with Appendix 2 of these Rules (hereinafter, the application), certified by the employer's electronic digital signature (the EDS);
• information about the foreign workers involved, indicating the last name, first name, patronymic (if any) (including in Latin letters), date of birth, citizenship, number, date and authority for issuing a passport (identity document), country of permanent residence, country of departure, education, the name of the specialty, in accordance with the occupational standards applied in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Qualification reference book of the positions of heads, specialists and other employees, the standard qualification characteristics of the positions of heads, specialists and other employees of organizations, the Unified tariff and qualification reference book of the works and worker’s trades, tariff and qualification characteristics of worker’s trades and the State Classifier of the Republic of Kazakhstan 01-99 "Classifier of Occupations" (hereinafter the Qualification Requirements) in accordance with subparagraph 16-1) of Article 16 of the Code (hereinafter the information on the foreign workers attracted);
• an electronic copy of the identity document of a foreign worker;
• a document confirming the payment of the fee for issuing a permit;

2. When attracting foreign workers of the first, second, third and fourth categories:

• An application certified by the employer's EDS;
• information about the attracted foreign workers;
• electronic copies of notarized documents on education and translations (if the document is not completed in the state or Russian language), legalized in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, except for the cases provided for by international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan that have entered into force in accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 39 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Education";
• a notarized electronic copy and translation (if the document is not filled out in the state or Russian language) of the contract for works completion, services provision (in the event that a foreign legal entity-employer operates in the Republic of Kazakhstan without establishing a branch, representative office in accordance with paragraph 35 of the Rules);
• a notarized electronic copy and translation (if the document is not completed in the state or Russian language) of the document (letter or translation agreement), agreed between the foreign employee and the foreign legal entity-employer, from which the foreign employee is temporarily transferred (in case the foreign legal entity-employer sends its employees to the Republic of Kazakhstan to perform the work, provide the services to the subsidiary, representative office, branch of a foreign legal entity, in which such a foreign legal entity-employer directly or indirectly has shares or participation interests);
• an electronic copy of the employer's letter, which confirms the compliance of the qualifications and professional experience of the foreign employee with the position for which he is being hired;
• information on the fulfillment of the obligations imposed on the issuance of permits to attract foreign labor for the previous and current calendar years, the due date for which has come (if any);
• information on the local personnel content in the form in accordance with Appendix 6 of these Rules (with the exception of state institutions and enterprises, representative offices and branches of foreign legal entities with a number of employees of no more than 30 people, and foreign workers arrived in the Republic of Kazakhstan for employment by their own based on the issuance or extension of certificates to the foreigner or stateless person certifying the compliance of his qualifications for self-employment; a list of the priority sectors (economic activity types) and the trades in demand of the Minister of Health and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 13, 2016 No. 503 (registered in the Register of State Registration of Regulatory Legal Acts No. 14149); on the permits issued within the framework of quotas for the departure countries, the international treaties ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan on the cooperation in the field of labor migration and social protection of the migrant workers in the prescribed form in accordance with Appendix 7 of these Rules (hereinafter, a notarized copy of the document specifying the local personnel content for priority projects);
• information on the liabilities undertaken with regard to the obtaining and extending permits in accordance with paragraph 16 of these Rules.
• an electronic copy of the identity document of a foreign worker;
• a document confirming the payment of the fee for issuing a permit;

3. To reissue a permit for attracting foreign labor, documents provided for in paragraph 2 of the list of documents required for the public service provision of the present Standard are provided.
4. To extend the permit to attract foreign labor:

• An application certified by the employer's EDS;
• information on the attracted foreign workers;
• information on the local personnel content;
• an electronic copy of the identity document of a foreign worker;
• a document confirming fee payment for issuing the permit.

5. To obtain or re-issue a permit to attract foreign labor within the framework of an intra-corporate transfer:

• a statement certified by the employer's EDS;
• an electronic copy of the notarized translation (if the document is not filled in the Kazakh or Russian languages) of the employment contract (concluded with a legal entity established in the territory of the member country of the World Trade Organization, located and operating outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan), or a letter or agreement on intra-corporate transfer concluded with the employer (concluded with a legal entity established in the territory of the member country of the World Trade Organization located and operating outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan), with a branch, representative office, an affiliate of this legal entity, established/registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan ;
• information on the work experience of the employee with attachment of the supporting documents recognized in the Republic of Kazakhstan;
• information on the fulfillment of special conditions of the permits issued for the previous and current calendar years, the due date for which has come (if any) (in any form);
• an electronic copy of the foreign legal entity-employer letter stating the conformity of the foreign employee’s qualifications and professional experience to the position the intra-corporate transfer is carried out, as well as a letter from the receiving party confirming that the employee has required qualifications and professional work experience;
• information on the special conditions undertaken for obtaining and extending the permits in the form in accordance with Appendix 8 of these Rules;
• information on the local personnel content when attracting foreign workers as part of the intra-corporate transfer in accordance with Appendix 9 of these Rules;
• an electronic copy of the document confirming the information on the vacant jobs (positions) sent by the employer to the employment center at the place of foreign labor employment (provided upon receipt of a permit);
• an electronic copy of the local personnel content program (if any);
• an electronic copy of the foreign worker identity document;

6. To extend a permit to attract foreign labor within the intra-corporate transfer:

• a statement certified by the employer's EDS;
• information on the fulfillment of special conditions of the permits issued for the previous and current calendar years, the due date for which has come (if any);
• information on the local personnel content when attracting foreign workers within the intra-corporate transfer;
• justification for extending the period of permits;
• an electronic copy of the foreign worker identity document;
• information on the special conditions undertaken.

7. To reissue a permit due to the change in the surname, first name, patronymic, number and series of the foreign worker identity document and in the event of reorganization of the employer-legal entity of the Republic of Kazakhstan or a branch (representative office) of the foreign legal entity in the form of merger, acquisition, division, separation or transformation, as well as in the event of a change in the name or details specified in the permit to attract foreign labor:

• An application certified by the employer's EDS;
• electronic copies of the documents confirming the change of the surname, name, patronymic, number and series of the identity document of the foreign employee, reorganization of the employer-legal entity of the Republic of Kazakhstan or a branch (representative office) of the foreign legal entity in the form of a merger, accession, division, separation or transformation, and also in the event of the change of the name or details specified in the permit to attract foreign labor.

When issuing and renewing a permit within the intra-corporate transfer, the employer, upon his consent, is imposed one of the following special conditions at his choice:

1.    Vocational training on specialty of the foreign worker to be employed arranged for the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2.    Retraining of the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the specialty of the foreign worker to be employed.
3.    Capacity building of the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
4.    Creation of additional jobs for the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan in specialties the foreign workers are attracted.

A permit to attract foreign labor is not issued or renewed in the following cases:

1)    establishing the inauthenticity of the documents submitted by the employer for obtaining public service, and (or) the data (information) contained therein;
2)    exceeding the size of the allocated quota;
3)    nonfulfillment of obligations to replace foreign labor in the fourth category;
4)    non-compliance by the employer with the conditions established by paragraph 16 of these Rules;
5)    establishing the fact that the employer has attracted foreign workers without a permit, as well as attraction of of the foreign employee whose trade or specialty does not match the trade or specialty specified in the permit. In those cases, no new permits will be issued within twelve months from the date of establishing such a fact;
6)    non-conformity of the education (vocational training) and experience (years of work experience) of the foreign labor with the qualification requirements for the trades and job positions of heads, specialists and employees, in accordance with occupational standards, the Unified tariff and qualification reference book of the works and trades and A qualification guide for the heads, specialists and other employees, standard qualification characteristics of the job positions of heads, specialists and other employees.

A permit to attract foreign labor within the intra-corporate transfer is not issued or renewed in the following cases:

1)    the establishment of the inauthenticity of the documents submitted by the employer for obtaining public services, and (or) the data (information) contained therein;
2)    the non-compliance by the employer with the conditions established by paragraph 57 of these Rules;
3)    the establishment of the fact that the employer attracted foreign workers without permit, as well as the employment of the foreign employee for the trade or specialty that does not match to the trade or specialty specified in the permit. In these cases, no new permits will be issued within twelve months from the date of establishing such a fact;
4)    the non-fulfillment of special conditions of permits issued for the previous and current calendar years, the due date for which has come (if any);
5)    the inconsistency of the education (occupational training) and experience (years of experience) of the foreign labor with the requirements provided for in paragraphs 41 and 42 of these Rules;
6)    the failure to comply with the measures (conditions) provided for by the program to increase the local personnel content (if any).

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 32 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Employment of the Population" (hereinafter, the Law), the statues of the Law on foreign labor attraction quotas and the issuance of permits to the employers do not apply to the foreigners and stateless persons:

•    Those who work in the autonomous educational institutions, their organizations, as well as in the "Nazarbayev Fund" in the positions of managers and specialists with higher education;
•    Those who work in the government agencies with supporting documents in the manner established by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
•    Those who work in the organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan that have concluded investment contracts for the priority investment project implementation in accordance with the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “on the investments”, as well as work in the organizations contracted by these legal entities (or their contractors) as a general contractor, contractor, subcontractor or service provider, in the field of architectural, urban planning and construction activities (including exploration and design activities, engineering services), for a period up to one year after the investment activity object is put into operation as the heads and specialists with higher education, as well as qualified workers according to the list of trades and the number determined in the investment contracts for the priority investment project implementation;
•    Those who work in legal entities that are members of special economic zones, with projects worth more than one million monthly calculation indices, as well as in organizations attracted by these participants of special economic zones (or their contractors) as a general contractor, contractor, subcontractor or service provider during the period of construction and installation works execution on the territory of special economic zones and until the expiration of one year after the commissioning of the facility (facilities) in accordance with the list of categories and the number, determined by the commission composed of representatives of authorized body for the issues of employment of the population, interested central state bodies in the manner approved by a joint decision of the authorized body for the issues of employment of the population and the central executive body that carries out state regulation in the field of creation, functioning and abolition of special economic zones;
•    those employees who have arrived for self-employment under the trades in demand in the priority economy sectors (economic activity types);
•    those who permanently reside in the Republic of Kazakhstan;
•    those who work in the position of heads of branches or representative offices of the foreign legal entities;
•    provided for by the list of persons determined by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the permits of local executive bodies are not required;
•    those who work in the international technological park "Astana Hub" or the participants of international technological park "Astana Hub" in the positions of heads and specialists with higher education.

In addition, Appendix 2 to the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 15, 2016 No. 802 provides a list of persons whose labor activity does not require any permit from the local executive bodies:

•    Repatriated Kazakhs;
•    business immigrants who arrived to carry out entrepreneurial activities;
•    those who have got a status of refugee or seeking asylum;
•    who are immigrants arrived for the humanitarian reasons, in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 22, 2011 "On population migration";  
•    convicted under the sentences of the courts of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the imprisonment, conditionally, to the punishments not related to the isolation from the society;
•    who are the victims of human trafficking for the period of court proceedings on a specific criminal case related to the human trafficking, before the entry into force of the court verdict;
•    those who enter the Republic of Kazakhstan for the purpose of family reunification, who have reached the age of majority, being a spouse of the citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan and have been married for at least three years, recognized by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
•    full-time students and at the same time working in the educational institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan in their free time in accordance with the labor legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
•    who are the citizens of the states the parties to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union of May 29, 2014;  
•    who are the members of the crews of sea and river vessels, air and railway transport;
•    who work as the artists, directors, conductors, choirmasters, choreographers, athletes and trainers;
•    attracted by the participants and bodies of the international financial center "Astana";
•    who are the specialists in the creation of a space rocket complex and maintenance of the ground space infrastructure objects, employed in the framework of international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan for cooperation in the field of aerospace activities;
•    those who carry out pedagogical activities in accordance with international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan about cooperation in the field of education in the organizations of secondary, technical and vocational, post-secondary and higher education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, but constituting no more than 25 percent, and for those implementing international integrated curricula  no more than 50 percent of the organization staff;
•    teaching staff of the higher educational institutions, which have been assigned a special status in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as those who work in the higher educational institutions in the positions of managers and teachers with higher education with confirmed documents in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and who carry out the personnel training for the economy sectors.
•    Working as the first heads of branches or representative offices of foreign legal entities, as well as the first heads of Kazakh legal entities and their deputies with a one hundred percent share of foreign participation in their authorized capital.
•    Those who are on a business trip for business purposes, the period of which does not exceed a total of one hundred and twenty calendar days within one calendar year.
•    Those who work as the heads of organizations that have concluded contracts with the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the amount of investments in monetary terms over 50 million US dollars, and the heads of legal entities of the Republic of Kazakhstan that carry out investment activities in the priority activities and have entered into a contract with the authorized investment authority;
•    Those who work in the national management holding in the positions not lower than the heads of structural units with higher education with confirmed documents in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
•    Those employed to work as the members of the board of directors of the national management holding

Article 519 of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 5, 2014 "On Administrative Offenses" provides for the fines for the following offenses in the field of foreign labor employment:

The foreign labor employment by the employer without permit of the local executive body or the use of the labor of the foreigners and stateless persons who do not have qualification certificates for their self-employment issued by authorized body on the issues of population migration, or labor immigrant permits issued by the internal affairs bodies shall result in the recovery of a fine for the individuals in the amount of thirty, for the officials in the amount of fifty, for the small businesses or non-profit organizations in the amount of one hundred, for the medium-sized businesses in the amount of two hundred, for the large businesses in the amount of seven hundred MCI.

The employment of a foreign worker by the employer for the position (trade or specialty) that does not match to the position (trade or specialty) specified in the permit of the local executive body shall result in the recovery of a fine for the individuals in the amount of thirty, for the officials in the amount of fifty, for the small businesses or non-profit organizations in the amount of one hundred, for the medium-sized businesses in the amount of two hundred, for the large businesses in the amount of seven hundred MCI.

The actions provided for in parts one and two of this article, committed repeatedly within a year after the imposition of the administrative penalty, shall result in the recovery of a fine for the individuals in the amount of fifty, for the officials in the amount of one hundred, for the small businesses or non-profit organizations in the amount of two hundred, for the medium-sized businesses in the amount of three hundred, for the large-scale businesses in the amount of one thousand monthly calculation indices.

The employment by the employer the individual of the labor immigrants for work completion (services provision) in the household without an appropriate permit issued by the internal affairs bodies, or the conclusion of labor contracts for work completion (services provision) in the household by one employer the individual simultaneously with more than five labor immigrants shall result in the recovery of a fine in the amount of thirty monthly calculation indices.

The actions provided for by part five of this article, committed repeatedly within a year after the imposition of an administrative penalty shall result in the recovery of a fine in the amount of fifty monthly calculation indices.