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 RK.

Visa of the Republic of Kazakhstan means a stamp of the authorized state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the passport of the migrant or a document that replaces it, or a stamp of the authorized state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the information system that gives the right to enter the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, travel through its territory, stay in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and leave the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan for a period of time, for the purposes and under the conditions specified in the visa.

In accordance with the Rules for issuing invitations, coordinating invitations for foreigners and stateless persons to enter the Republic of Kazakhstan, issuing, cancelling, restoring and renewing visas of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as extending and shortening their validity (hereinafter - the Rules), approved by joint order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 11-1-2/555 dated 24 November 2016 and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 1100 dated 28 November 2016, for issuing visas in foreign institutions 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 submit the following documents and information required to provide state services "Issue, renewal or extension in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan of visas for foreigners and stateless persons for the right to leave the Republic of Kazakhstan and enter the Republic of Kazakhstan" and "Issue, renewal and transit through the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan":

1. Visa application form with a colour or black and white photograph measuring 3.5 x 4.5 cm;
2. When applying for a visa in a foreign country of the Republic of Kazakhstan or at an international airport of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the number, date of invitation registered with 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 the invitation to the recipient of the visa is notified by the inviting party), or the application of the recipient of the visa category stipulated in paragraph 25 of the Rules;
3. A valid diplomatic, service, foreign passport of a foreign country or other identification document recognized as the Republic of Kazakhstan and granting the right to cross the State Border of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter - passport);
4. The original payment documents confirming the payment of the consular fee or state duty;
5. Additional documents required for receipt of visa in accordance with Annex 1 to the Regulations.

Documents issued or certified by a competent institution of a foreign country or specially authorized person, within its competence and in the prescribed form, bearing the foreign country's stamp, shall be accepted only after passing the special certification procedure (legalization or apostilization).

Invitation to enter the Republic of Kazakhstan for private affairs shall be submitted not earlier than 1 year and not later than 5 working days before the expected date of entry of the visa recipient into the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The application 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 filing the application, except for the cases specified in paragraph 16 of the Rules.

The time limits for issuing visas do not exceed 5 working days. When applying through the portal - 30 (thirty) minutes.

The consular fees paid are non-refundable.

After 5 working days, a visa of the Republic of Kazakhstan is issued to a foreigner by an foreign institution. In cases stipulated by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a foreigner may be refused a visa of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Electronic Visas 

An electronic visa (business, tourist and medical) is issued on the basis of a valid invitation from the Kazakhstan side, issued in accordance with the established procedure in the migration service units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Foreigners can enter/leave on/off the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan using a valid electronic visa only through the checkpoints of international airports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

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

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

The consular fees paid are non-refundable.

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

1) do not raise doubts about its authenticity and belonging to its owner, contain notes on extension, reservations, entries, erasures and corrections, torn or embossed pages;

2) have at least 2 clean pages;

3) its validity period expires not earlier than 3 months from the date of expiry of the requested visa;

4) must not have any notes on the extension of the validity period.

Receiving party informs the Migration Service about foreign nationals staying with them within three working days of their arrival.

Step-by-step algorithm for issuing an electronic visa

- To obtain an electronic visa, you must register on the Visa and Migration Portal website (www.vmp.gov.kz);
- after registration, familiarise yourself with the requirements for obtaining an electronic visa;
- enter the number of invitation (the number of invitation is sent by the inviting party in the Republic of Kazakhstan) and fill in the necessary passport data;
- to pay the consular fee;
- print out the electronic visa (visa is formed in the personal office);
- to present a printed electronic visa when passing passport control at the international airports of Astana and Almaty.