Legal Alert - August 2024

Dear readers,

Amendments to the Kazakhstan Law «On Migration of Population»¹ (the Law) came into force starting May 28, 2024. According to the amendments, foreigners who arrived in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) under visa free regime for the purpose of carrying out business activities, are obliged to obtain a temporary residence permit (TRP) for a business immigrant. Business-immigrant is an immigrant who has arrived for the purpose of carrying out business activities in accordance with the Kazakhstan legislation.²

Previous edition of the Law prescribed a prohibition on engaging in business activities in the RK only for foreign nationals who had not obtained a category C5 visa. However, under international agreements ratified by the RK, citizens of certain countries are exempt from obtaining visas for entering the RK. Instead of visas, citizens of such countries receive a TRP for the corresponding purpose of stay. This difference created a misunderstanding in relation to this prohibition, which was resolved by the current amendments.

Immigrants holding residence permits or stateless persons’ IDs are exempted from obtaining visa or TRP for business-immigrants³.

Judicial practice in the RK indicates that one of the most significant consequences of failing to obtain a C5 visa for the registration of a legal entity or for joining as a participant (shareholder) may be the invalidation of the registration of such a legal entity or the transaction involving the acquisition of a share in it. It is expected that with the entry into force of the amendments to the Law, this practice would also apply to individuals who have established a legal entity or joined it as a participant (shareholder) in violation of the requirement to obtain a TRP for business immigrants.