Digital Nomad Residency in Kazakhstan for a Dutch citizen

A foreign citizen contacted us after three unsuccessful attempts to apply for Digital Nomad Residency by himself.

Chronology of Events

• First submission, independently – refusal due to inaccurate data.
• The second submission, independently – refusal due to inconsistency of the questionnaire data.
• The third submission, self-refusal, the questionnaire is filled out in English.
• A foreign citizen has contacted us.
• The fourth submission with our help is a failure, a system error of the egov questionnaire.
• The fifth serve is successful. The application has been approved by egov. Entry to Kazakhstan is required within 30 calendar days for further action

Two main difficulties we faced with documents:

1. The visa-free stay rule (up to 90 days within a 180-day period) was ending. The foreign citizen had entered the Republic of Kazakhstan and was staying here prior to documents submission. According to our calculations, he had 11 days of visa-free stay left. Our recommendation was to leave the country for a nearby state after submitting the documents, because he had to enter again under the visa-free regime to get the Digital Nomad Residency. Otherwise, he needed to travel to the Netherlands to get a visa category B8, because when the visa-free period expires, the foreign citizen cannot be in Kazakhstan for the next 90 days. The decision was made to go to Kyrgyzstan, to the ski resort Karakol.
2. The police clearance certificate is valid for 180 calendar days and in our case was expiring on December 15, 2025. The foreign citizen came to us on November 10. Additionally, we requested a new police clearance certificate with an apostille stamp, in case there was another refusal because of an egov error. An important point: the error happened because the first application form was filled out incorrectly and during later submissions, data was partially taken from the first form.

Step-by-step plan to get Digital Nomad Residency

Stage 1. Astana Hub (Business Hub)

1.1 We checked the foreign citizen’s job. We checked if it is on the list of needed jobs.

1.2 Getting a letter from Astana Hub. For this, you need an IIN (Individual Identification Number) and a digital signature key (ЭЦП). You submit an application on the Astana Hub website. They check the documents for 2 working days. Then they give an interview in 5 working days. After the interview, they give the letter in 5-10 working days.

Stage 2. Application in the egov (Unified Government System) portal

• Submitting the online application. List of documents: the Astana Hub letter, a receipt for the government fee payment, the application form. Very important! You must fill the application form in Russian. The client filled it in English, but the system made a bad translation. This caused more problems later.
• The review time is 45 calendar days normally. Astana Hub said for needed jobs the review takes 30 calendar days. The approval in the egov system came on the 31st day. Very important! Because we got many refusals, we also wrote a letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД). We asked them to help with the process. We did this because we got 4 refusals and the visa-free days were almost finished.

Stage 3. Enter Kazakhstan again and get the Digital Nomad Residency

3.1 After getting the positive answer from egov, the foreign citizen entered Kazakhstan. He had 7 days of visa-free stay left. We needed to give the documents to the Public Service Center (ЦОН) in these 7 days.

• Day 1 after entering Kazakhstan: we gave the entry notification.
• Day 2: we did the medical check, dactyloscopic (fingerprint) procedure, and signed a rental agreement with the apartment owner. The first agreement was not correct by law, so we asked for a new agreement. At the same time, we asked the owner to give a power of attorney to one of our workers. This is because when you give the final documents to Public Service Center the owner must be there in person.
• After collecting all documents, we went to Public Service Center. The application was approved in egov. Public Service Center sent our application to the Migration Service. The inspector asked us to bring these documents: Printed application from e-gov, Astana Hub letter (about the needed jobs list), Police clearance certificate (with apostille, translation, and notary stamp), Fingerprint certificate, Notarized rental agreement (using the correct form). At this point, they told us this was a preliminary approval. The final review would take 10 more working days.

The foreign specialist did not have time for this. His visa-free stay was only 7 calendar days. We decided to apply for a B8 visa. But for that, he needed to leave the country. The B8 visa in Kazakhstan is only given if there is a mutual visa-free agreement. With the Netherlands, the agreement is only one-sided. The inspector heard about our problems and promised to make the process faster.

After getting the letter (we got it on the 2nd working day), we went to Public Service Center. We needed to have: Payment for the residency permit (ВНЖ) government fee, We paid for a fast service to get the ID card in 7 working days, The officer filled another form.

Very important! At this stage, the apartment owner must be present for permanent registration (постоянная регистрация). What problems did we have at this stage?

• We did the dactyloscopic (fingerprint) registration again. We did it before at the Migration Service, but Public Service Center said their databases are different. So we had to do it again.
• We took the photo for the ID card. The foreign specialist wore a light-colored T-shirt. The officer said the photo will probably be refused. The system does not accept photos with light clothes on a white background. Our worker gave him a black sweater to wear.
• On the 7th working day, we received the residency permit ID card (ВНЖ).

What the foreign citizen must do after getting the residency permit (ВНЖ)

1. Stay in Kazakhstan for at least 183 calendar days per year.
2. If you drive a car, you must change your driver’s license within 60 calendar days.
3. If you change your address, you must register the new address with the migration service.

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