Overall6/10Easier visas than about 55% of cities
Good to know
Good to Know
- Most Western nomads (US, EU, UK, Canada, Australia passport holders) can enter Kazakhstan visa-free for up to 30 days per entry with just a valid passport — no advance paperwork needed for short stays.
- The 30-day visa-free stamp doesn't reset by leaving and re-entering — the official rule caps total visa-free time at 90 days within any rolling 180-day window and 120 days per calendar year, so serial border-runs to 'reset the clock' don't fully work under the letter of the rule.
- Technically your landlord or hotel — not you — is responsible for registering your arrival with migration authorities within 3 working days; if you're renting a private apartment, it's worth explicitly confirming with the host that they've done this, since the fine for non-compliance falls on them but can complicate your stay.
- If you're staying under about a week, you may fall under an exemption from the registration requirement altogether, but this is worth double-checking with your accommodation host rather than assuming.
- Neither the Neo Nomad Visa nor the Digital Nomad Residency allows you to work for Kazakh companies or clients — both require your income to originate from outside Kazakhstan.
- The Neo Nomad Visa application must be done in person at a consulate with a full document set (six months of bank statements, tax return, criminal record certificate) — it's not a purely online process like some other countries' nomad visas.
- If you're chasing the B9-1 Digital Nomad Residency for its 10-year permanent residency pathway, confirm current program status directly with Astana Hub before relying on it, since it launched as a pilot and its longer-term continuation wasn't fully clear in the sources checked.
- Even without a special visa, simply spending 183+ days in Kazakhstan in a rolling 12-month window can trigger Kazakh tax residency and worldwide income taxation at a flat 10% — plan your calendar if you want to stay a non-resident.
Visa Free Entry
- Baseline Regime
- Kazakhstan operates a unilateral visa-free regime covering most nomad-relevant nationalities (all EU countries, UK, US, Canada, Australia, and many others).
- Entries Allowed
- unlimited entries permitted
- Documents Required
- Valid passport only — no visa, invitation letter, or advance application needed for eligible nationalities.
- Overstay Consequences
- Exceeding the permitted visa-free period can lead to administrative fines against the traveler and/or host, and in serious cases a court-ordered deportation with a re-entry ban of up to 5 years.
- Covid Era Requirements
- PCR tests and vaccination certificates have not been required to enter Kazakhstan since June 2022.
- Max Stay Per Entry Days
- 30
- Eligible Countries Count
- 54
Cumulative Cap
- Primary Rule
- Total stay under the visa-free regime should not exceed 90 calendar days within any 180-day period, and not more than 120 days within one calendar year, per the official e-government portal.
- Conflicting Figure Note
- A separate migration-consultancy source cites a stricter 42-day cumulative cap within a 180-day period for the visa-free regime overall; this could not be corroborated on the official government page, so travelers planning stays beyond 30-60 days in a rolling window should verify current limits directly before relying on them.
Official Source Links
Special Shorter Regimes
- China India
- China and India citizens get a separate unilateral visa-free allowance of up to 14 calendar days per entry (cumulative no more than 42 days within a 180-day period for China).
- Cis Bilateral 90 Day
- Citizens of Georgia, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Mongolia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan get up to 90 days visa-free under separate bilateral agreements, distinct from the 54-country unilateral list.
Registration Requirement
- Who
- The host (hotel, landlord, or inviting party) — not the traveler — must notify the migration service of the foreigner's arrival, within 3 working days of arrival, regardless of whether entry was visa-free or on a visa.
- Exemption
- Stays of 5 business days or fewer generally do not require this migration registration (weekends/holidays don't count toward that threshold), though this exemption is sourced from a private guide rather than the official portal.
- Penalty For Host
- Late or missing notification can trigger a fine against the host (10 to 20 Monthly Calculation Indices), and repeat violations within a year can bar that host from issuing invitations for a year.
E Visa For Ineligible Nationalities
- Validity
- Single-entry, generally allows a stay of up to 30 days, and is non-transferable to accompanying persons including children.
- Requirement
- An e-visa requires a prior invitation number from a Kazakh inviting party (e.g., a travel agency), payment of a non-refundable consular fee, and entry/exit only through the international airports in Almaty or Astana.
- Who Needs It
- Citizens of countries not on the 54-country visa-free list (roughly 109 countries are e-visa eligible) generally need an electronic visa obtained in advance via the official Visa and Migration Portal.
- Processing Time
- Typically issued within about 5 business days after all documents and fees are submitted.
Digital Nomad Visa And Tax
- Visa Ease Tier
- moderate
- Visa Ease Tier Rationale
- Kazakhstan has two operational remote-worker pathways (Neo Nomad B12-1 and IT-focused B9-1) and a clear flat 10% tax-residency rule, but the baseline visa-free stay is only 30 days, the Neo Nomad route requires an in-person embassy interview and six months of bank statements, and the B9-1 route is restricted to IT professions.
Programs
Neo Nomad Visa (B12-1)
- Summary
- Kazakhstan's closest equivalent to a classic digital nomad visa: a multiple-entry visa for people who work remotely for employers/clients based outside Kazakhstan.
- Visa Fee
- KZT 89,700
Fee reporting varies by source/consulate (roughly $190–$225 equivalent depending on where you apply); treat as approximate.
- Restrictions
- Local employment with Kazakh companies or clients is not permitted; dependents are not sponsored under this specific visa category in most program descriptions.
- Application Path
- Submitted in person at a Kazakhstani consulate/embassy; requires a consular appointment and processing typically takes around five business days once documents are received.
- Income Requirement
- KZT 1,416,000
Requirement is set and verified in USD (~$3,000/month); the KZT figure is an approximate conversion at current exchange rates, not a fixed local-currency threshold.
- Validity And Renewal
- Valid for up to one year as a multiple-entry visa; can be extended on-territory. Sources disagree on the total renewable duration — some report a single one-year renewal, others report up to three renewals for a maximum of four years total in-country.
Documents Required
- Valid passport (at least 3 months validity beyond the visa, 2 blank pages)
- Six months of bank statements showing stable income of at least $3,000/month
- A tax return from the applicant's home country as proof of overseas income
- Criminal record certificate from country of citizenship/residence
- International health insurance covering the full stay in Kazakhstan
- Completed visa application form and passport photo
Digital Nomad Residency (B9-1)
- Summary
- A pilot program aimed specifically at foreign IT professionals (software developers, designers, DevOps, cybersecurity, etc.) seeking to relocate to Kazakhstan long-term, with a pathway to a 10-year residence permit.
- Restrictions
- Restricted to in-demand IT professions; does allow eventual integration into the local job market, unlike the Neo Nomad Visa.
- Application Path
- Mostly remote/online: obtain an Individual Identification Number (IIN) and digital signature (EDS) via a Kazakhstan embassy, submit an application through the Astana Hub portal, complete an online interview, then travel to Kazakhstan once approved to submit biometrics, a medical certificate, and proof of accommodation before receiving the residence permit.
- Income Requirement
- None — no minimum income or savings threshold is required, unlike the Neo Nomad Visa.
- Validity And Renewal
- Grants a 10-year residence permit directly — no annual renewal cycle in the way the Neo Nomad Visa has.
- Program Status Caveat
- Launched as a pilot in March 2025; at least one source described the pilot as running only through December 31, 2025 with extension undecided — current 2026 status of the pilot could not be independently confirmed at the time of research.
Documents Required
- CV, portfolio, and motivation letter
- IIN and digital signature (EDS)
- Proof of accommodation (property purchase or rental) in Kazakhstan
- Medical certificate
- A sponsoring petition from Astana Hub or an authorized IT-sector body
Tax Notes
- Resident Tax Rate
- Kazakh tax residents pay a flat 10% Individual Income Tax on worldwide income; non-residents are taxed only on Kazakhstan-sourced income.
- Secondary Trigger
- Kazakhstan can also treat someone as a tax resident under 183 days if their 'center of vital interests' is in Kazakhstan — defined as simultaneously holding Kazakh citizenship or a residence permit, having family/close relatives resident in Kazakhstan, and owning or occupying residential property there.
- Tax Residency Trigger
- 183 days or more spent in Kazakhstan within any rolling 12-month period triggers Kazakh tax residency, counting both arrival and departure days as full days.
- Double Taxation Treaties
- Kazakhstan has double taxation avoidance agreements with over 50 countries, which can override the domestic residency rules described above.
- Practical Note
- Most digital nomads on the Neo Nomad or B9-1 visas who stay under 183 days and earn purely foreign-sourced income are generally not treated as Kazakh tax residents, but this is a self-managed threshold — there is no automatic non-resident certification process described in official sources found.
- Individual Entrepreneur Note
- Freelancers registering locally as individual entrepreneurs pay 10% IIT on net profit, rising to 15% on the portion of taxable income above 230,000 MCI starting January 1, 2026.
Baseline Visa Free Entry
- Note
- This is the fallback most nomads use to 'test the waters' before applying for a longer-stay program.
- Description
- Kazakhstan's visa-free list covers 87 ordinary-passport nationalities, with most Western passport holders (EU, US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea) receiving 30 days visa-free per entry.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this visas research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
- 1.gov.kz
- 2.vmp.gov.kz
- 3.egov.kz
More About Almaty
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.