Kazakhstan Visa Requirements
The good news is that, these days, citizens of 73 countries can visit Kazakhstan without needing to obtain any type of visa at all prior to their travel.
Hopefully you’re from one of those countries. If you’re not, it is still relatively easy to get a visa, and we’re there to help you, and will make it easy and simple. Assuming nothing alarming in your application, it will almost certainly be quickly approved and a visa issued for you.
Citizens of eight countries can visit for up to 90 days visa free. These countries are
- Armenia
- Belarus
- Georgia
- Kyrgyzstan
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Russia
- Ukraine
Citizens of another 36 countries, plus citizens of all 28 EU nations, can visit for up to 30 days visa free.
These countries are
- Argentina
- Australia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- European Union
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Israel
- Japan
- Korea
- Kuwait
- Lichtenstein
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Monaco
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Oman
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- UAE
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Vatican City
- Vietnam
There is one more visa-free “country”, the citizens of which can stay for up to 14 days without a visa. This is
- Hong Kong
Citizens of most other countries do need to get a visa prior to arrival, but this is nowadays a straightforward process if you are seeking a simple, single-entry, tourist visa, and arriving at either Nur-Sultan or Almaty airports.
One important element of this however is that you need a Letter of Invitation as part of your visa application. Good news. We can provide one of these for you. They typically take about a week to obtain from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and must be applied for at least 15 days prior to your travel to Kazakhstan (and not more than 90 days prior). Full details on our Kazakhstan Visa Letter of Invitation Application page.
In such cases, you will need at least two blank pages in your passport, and your passport should not expire until at least three or six months (two different sources suggesting two different requirements, so perhaps you should play it safe and make sure you’ve six months remaining) after the expiry of the Kazakhstan visa you are seeking.
These other countries are
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belize
- Benin
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brunei Darussalam
- Burkina Faso – Upper Volta
- Burundi
- Butane
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Congo Republic
- Costa Rica
- Cote d Ivoire – Ivory Coast
- Cuba
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Faroe Islands
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- India
- Jamaica
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Macau
- Macedonia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Maldives Republic
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Oman
- Palau
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Rwanda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Salvador
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunis
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Uruguay
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
So, what if you’ve not seen your country in any of the lists, above?
Don’t worry, you can still come to Kazakhstan, too! You just need to get a traditional visa, the “old fashioned way”, from the Kazakhstan Embassy or Consulate in your country.
And, one more possibility. What if there’s no Kazakh Embassy/Consulate in your country? Still not a problem. The chances are there’s a nearby country where the Kazakhstan Embassy is responsible for your country too, and if that’s not the case, there are ways to pre-arrange a visa to be waiting for you when you arrive into Kazakhstan.
While we try to keep this page up to date and accurate, we can't guarantee its completeness in covering all "corner cases". Furthermore, sometimes "real world" interpretations are at odds with the theoretical meaning of visa laws.
Be sure to discuss your exact situation and circumstances with us so we can give you up-to-date and comprehensive guidance on what you'll need to do to ensure your arrival into Kazakhstan goes smoothly, your visa is registered as may be required, and, ultimately, you then can leave the country too without any paperwork problems.
Quick Summary
Kazakhstan no longer requires visas from the citizens of most western and CIS countries. If you do need a visa, the chances are you can get an electronic e-visa. For e-visas and regular visas, you'll need a letter of invitation. We can send you one of these for a nominal fee, assuming you're booking some travel with us. Complete the linked form and send it to us. We'll quickly get back to you.
Registering Your Visa
There’s one more thing you might need to do, after arriving in Kazakhstan. This is registering your visa.
If you’ve visited other former Soviet countries, you might be familiar with this process already. Yes, it is a nuisance, and yes, it is being phased out, but also yes, if you need to register, it is important that you do. Failure to do so can make you liable for fines or even imprisonment, either if you are randomly stopped and asked to show your documents while in-country, or when leaving the country. There’s something slightly ironic about not being allowed to leave a country due to your visa to enter/stay in the country being incorrect, but such is life.
