Immigration lawyer in Kazakhstan: when you need one, how it works

An immigration lawyer in Kazakhstan is needed when a foreigner's stay stops being a short trip and becomes work, business or residence, because at that point the application is filed not by the foreigner but by a host party, the documents must match each other to the letter, and a mistake costs months. The lawyer's job is to choose the correct legal route, prepare the host party's documents and the applicant's file, submit through the right channel and keep the deadlines. This article explains the main routes, what the lawyer actually does at each stage, and how the work is organized at SHANYRAQ Legal.

The three routes

Kazakhstan immigration law separates people by two questions: does the person need a visa to enter, and what is the purpose of stay. The answers determine the route.

Route 1. Citizens of visa-free countries with a ratified agreement: TRP through a host party

Citizens of states with which Kazakhstan has ratified a visa-free agreement (among them Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia) enter without a visa and, to stay for work, study, family reunification, treatment or business, obtain a temporary residence permit (TRP). The TRP is issued by the migration service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under Order No. 992, and the application is filed by the host party: a citizen of Kazakhstan, a permanently residing foreigner or a Kazakhstan legal entity that invites the foreigner or provides housing. The service is free and takes one working day; filing is through the police, a service center or egov.kz.

The general file includes the application form, a copy of the foreigner's passport, medical insurance registered in the national insurance database, a notarized consent of the housing owner if the host is not the owner, and a fingerprinting certificate. Additional documents depend on the purpose: for work, the employer's labour permit or a document showing that no permit is required, plus the employment contract. The TRP for work is issued for one year, renewable annually, and not longer than the contract. The application must be made before the permitted period of stay expires or within ten calendar days after it.

Route 2. Citizens of visa countries: C3, C5, B-category and A5 visas

Citizens of other states (including the EU, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, India and Türkiye, some of whom enjoy short visa-free stays for tourism or business) need a visa whose category matches the purpose of stay. The categories are set by the joint order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs on invitations and visas. The ones that matter for work and business:

• C3 (work): for employment under a contract with a Kazakhstan employer. Single-entry up to 90 days on an invitation, or multi-entry up to three years, and up to five years for staff of AIFC participants and Astana Hub members, or for the period of the labour permit. Dependants receive dependant C3 visas.
• C5 (business immigrant): for a foreigner who comes to run their own business, including a foreign founder-director of an LLP; multi-entry up to two years; requires a medical certificate, insurance and police clearance.
• B1, B2, B3 (business): short trips for negotiations, conferences, equipment installation or audit; B3 also covers founders and board members. No dependant visas, and business visas are not a substitute for a work visa.
• A5 (investor): for heads of investing companies and for investors under the AIFC investment tax residency programme, multi-entry up to five years with dependant visas.
  Most visas require an invitation registered with the migration service, filed by a legal entity not earlier than 90 days and not later than five working days before entry. AIFC participants file through the AIFC Expat Centre; the decision is still taken by the migration service.

Route 3. Residence permit: the 2026 pilot

A residence permit (permanent residence) is a separate track. Since 2026 it runs under a pilot procedure that is scheduled to last until 31 December 2026. The pilot applies to foreigners who intend to settle permanently and not to those coming for work, business, investment, study or tourism as such. The core requirements confirmed on the state portals:

• KAZTEST: an online Kazakh language test at basic level, with a 70 percent threshold in each block; the electronic questionnaire cannot be opened without a certificate.
• Electronic questionnaire and criteria-based assessment on the migration.enbek.kz portal under the joint order of the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Digital Development No. 41/60/47 of 30 January 2026: 13 sections, checks by state bodies, an interview, and a scoring formula with a threshold of 600 points; 29 to 30 working days.
• Region of settlement: the application is filed with the migration service through a service center in one of the designated regions, and a year of lawful residence in that region is required.
• Solvency: funds of at least 1,320 MCI on a Kazakhstan bank account for the period of consideration and annually for five years, under Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 531 of 30 June 2023, unless an exemption applies.
• Documents: passport valid for more than 180 days, police clearance from the country of citizenship and residence, medical certificate form 028/u, notarized housing agreement, fingerprinting certificate, consent of the state of citizenship where its law provides for it, state duty of 4 MCI; 45 calendar days for a decision.

Exemptions matter. Investors on A5 and A6 visas, holders of in-demand professions on B9 visas and minors are exempt from the criteria-based assessment, the solvency requirement, the year in the region of settlement and the consent of the state of citizenship. Spouses of Kazakhstan citizens and former compatriots are exempt from the regional residence requirement; former compatriots are also exempt from solvency. Because the pilot is amended during the year, the exact set of exemptions is confirmed on the date of engagement.

Situation	Route	Who files	Key document
Russian or Kyrgyz citizen hired by an LLP	TRP for work	Employer as host party	Employment contract, permit or exemption
German engineer hired by an AIFC company	C3 via AIFC Expat Centre	Employer	Invitation, petition, qualification documents
Turkish founder-director of an LLP	C5 visa	Company	Medical, insurance, police clearance
Investor in an AIFC company (60,000 USD or more)	A5 via ITRP	AIFC Expat Centre / company	Proof of investment in own name
Foreigner settling permanently	Residence permit pilot	Applicant	KAZTEST, questionnaire, solvency

What the lawyer actually does

Route selection. Many refusals come from the wrong category: entering on a business visa and trying to "convert" it to work, filing a TRP for a citizen whose visa-free agreement excludes work, or applying for a residence permit without checking the exemptions. The lawyer reads citizenship, purpose, family situation and the employer's status together and picks the route that closes.

Host party documents. For a TRP and for most visas the host party is a Kazakhstan company or resident. The lawyer prepares its petition, invitation form, decisions and power of attorney, and checks that the registered address has a registration code and that the host party has no recent penalties under Article 518 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which can block invitations.

Applicant's file. Passports, diplomas, marriage and birth certificates, police clearances and medical certificates from abroad need apostille or legalization and notarized translation. The lawyer checks validity windows (180 days for police clearance, three months for the medical certificate), consistency of names in Latin and Cyrillic, and whether each document is the version the authority expects.

Sequence and deadlines. Stay notification within three working days of arrival; fingerprinting; IIN; TRP filing before the stay expires; visa extension not earlier than 30 days and not later than five working days before expiry. The lawyer keeps the calendar and tells the client what to do on which day.

Representation. Under a power of attorney the lawyer files with the migration service, service centers, egov.kz and the AIFC Expat Centre, answers questions, and collects the result. The applicant appears in person only where the law requires it: fingerprinting, visa collection, the interview in the residence permit procedure.

Correction. When something has already gone wrong (an overstay, work without a permit, a mismatch between the notification and the visa), the lawyer assesses the situation on the day of the request and proposes the fastest lawful path: a new notification, a change of basis, or exit and re-entry on the correct visa.

How SHANYRAQ Legal organizes the work

• Diagnostic first. We assess citizenship, purpose, employer status and family, and tell you which route is realistic before any documents are collected.
• Guest link for documents. Each applicant uploads documents through a personal link; the lawyer sees the file in the client portal and marks what is missing.
• Stages with fixed outputs. Route confirmed, host party documents ready, file submitted, result received. Our services are paid after each stage is completed and the act of completed work is signed; state fees and duties are paid separately in advance.
• Languages and contact. We work in Russian, English, Kazakh and Chinese, and you deal with one lawyer who knows your case, Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:30 Astana time, by WhatsApp, Telegram or email.

Questions and answers

Do I need a lawyer for a simple TRP?
If the host party is experienced, the contract is registered and the citizenship is on the ratified list, a TRP can be filed without one. A lawyer is worth involving when the host party is a newly registered company, when the purpose of stay is not clearly employment, or when a previous stay had a violation.

Can a business visa be changed to a work visa inside Kazakhstan?
Visa categories are tied to the purpose of stay, and an application filed under the wrong category is returned. Where a person is lawfully in Kazakhstan, some categories can be obtained or extended inside the country through the migration service or the AIFC Expat Centre; whether that is possible in a given case depends on the current visa and the employer's status, and is checked before filing.

How long does the residence permit take?
Under the pilot, the questionnaire stage takes about 29 to 30 working days, the KAZTEST adds one or two weeks in a good case, and the migration service decision takes 45 calendar days after documents are filed. The year of lawful residence in the region of settlement, where required, runs before all of that.

Does the lawyer guarantee the result?
No lawyer can. The decision is taken by the migration service or the consulate. What we guarantee is that the route is correct, the file is complete and consistent, and the deadlines are kept, which removes the reasons for most refusals.

How SHANYRAQ Legal can help

We handle visas of all categories including invitations and filings through the AIFC Expat Centre, temporary residence permits through a host party, and the residence permit procedure under the 2026 pilot, including KAZTEST preparation and the questionnaire. Companies hiring foreign staff are supported through employer support. Document lists for each route are in our document checklists.

Current as of 28.09.2026. This material is for general information; requirements and fees are set by the competent authorities and are confirmed on the date of engagement.