Dear readers,

On 17 July 2024 amendments to the Kazakhstan Law «On Migration of Population»1 have come into force. The amendments introduce mechanism for monitoring a violation of migration legislation in the form of unscheduled inspections.

Unscheduled inspections will be made by the territorial internal affairs bodies (migration authorities). Unscheduled inspections may be carried out in relation to individuals and legal entities which host foreigners and stateless persons and (or) employ foreign labour2.

The grounds for an unscheduled inspection are:

  1. reports from individuals, legal entities or state authorities on specific facts and circumstances proving the illegal stay of foreigners, stateless persons as well as the Kazakhstan citizens who violate migration legislation;
  2. prosecutor’s demands;
  3. instructions from the criminal prosecution authorities.3

An unscheduled inspection is carried out based on the act of inspection authorization, which specifies the timeline, subject matter, inspected period and grounds for the inspection.4

The inspection period shall not exceed seven working days. In some cases, it may be extended for no more than 15 working days, but only once.5

In case of detection of the violation, the measures prescribed by the legislation are applied to the subject of control.6

1 Kazakhstan Law dated 16 May 2024 «On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on matters of improvement of legislation in the fields of migration of population and penal enforcement system»

2 Article 58-1.2 of the Kazakhstan Law «On Migration of Population» (the “Law”)

3 Article 58-2.2 of the Law

4 Article 58-2.7 of the Law

5 Article 58-2.9 of the Law

6 Article 58-2.14 of the Law