It is really hard to find the latest information about the new visa
processes that was implemented this month. The Government claims that they have
just "upgraded" their visa processes, however from my own
personal experience over the years and especially having gone through the
process now recently again I am convinced that it has just become more and more
difficult.
The information that I got about tourist visas are inconsistent and
therefore, I don’t want to claim that I have any knowledge of this process!
As a spouse of an expat it seems
impossible to get an acceptable visa that will allow you to live in Kazakhstan
for an extended period of time without leaving the country ever month/ few
months. At the moment I have a visa that only allows me 30 days per visit
in Kazakhstan.
For a Business visa you will require a Letter of Invitation by your
company, apparently now the LOI takes about 14 days to issue.
Business Visas are only issued by Embassies outside the country, which
means traveling and staying for at leased 5 days if not more.
You will need the following:
-Filled out visa application from
- A copy of your LOI, which is also submitted by your company to the specific
Consular Services (Please note: where
there are more than one Consular Service in a country - make sure that you and
your inviting company are dealing with the same office)
- Valid passport
- 1 Passport photo attached to the application form
- And your payment
Processing of Kazakh visas take about 5 working days.
Also check with the specific Consular Services which days they are
available... as some only assists Kazakh citizens on specific days. And when
planning to get your visa in another country also remember that certain days
are weekends and not working days; like in the Middle East - a Friday is the main
rest day and Sunday is the start of a new working week.
Also note that the Embassy in Kyrgyzstan is temporarily closed from the
15th of July until further notice, so it would not be possible to
renew visas from Kyrgyzstan. In the past many foreigners used to just travel
from Almaty over the boarder, to get a new visa and return. The drive should only take a few hours but the roads are
notoriously hazardous and the drivers drive like crazy, so this is not recommended!
Please share with us your experience with getting a KZ visas!
I'm not very familiar with Kazakhstan though but I did hear many good things about the country. I also know someone who have briefly stayed in the country and he seems to have no complains during his stay in the country. That made me think, yeah why not try to visit the country since it seems to be a nice country. Surely i'll make time to go to Kazakhstan.
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