Obtaining a temporary residence permit for a business immigrant for a citizen of Azerbaijan
In April 2025, we were approached by a citizen of Azerbaijan who was planning to open a company (LLC) in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
According to changes in legislation since 2024, citizens of EAEU countries (Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan), as well as citizens of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan, must first obtain a 90-day temporary residence permit for business immigrants in order to open an LLP or purchase a share in an LLP. During this period, it is necessary to register a company or purchase a share in an existing LLP.
Main difficulties
At the time of application, the foreign citizen already had a valid temporary residence permit for the purpose of “work” with a validity period of more than six months. However, the foreign citizen was planning to resign, which created legal uncertainty for him. According to the rules, if there is a valid TRP for the purpose of “work” and the employment relationship is terminated, the employer must cancel the permit within 15 days from the date of issuance of the order to terminate the employment contract.
After cancellation, the migration inspector issues a shortened TRP, during which the foreigner must submit a new application for a TRP or leave the country. In our case, this is what happened: the previous employer first canceled the TRP, and the foreign citizen received a shortened TRP for 15 days. We were faced with the task of managing to obtain a business immigrant TRP within this 15-day period.
Documents required from the country of citizenship
According to the requirements, in order to obtain a temporary residence permit for a business immigrant, two main documents must be provided from the country of citizenship:
- Certificate of no criminal record;
- Certificate of no prohibition on conducting business activities.
The second document was the main difficulty, as Azerbaijan does not officially issue certificates of no prohibition on conducting business activities. Some public service centers previously accepted only certificates of no criminal record, but in our case, the employees required both documents.
We worked with the client to develop possible alternatives. We proposed obtaining a certificate from the Azerbaijani tax authority confirming the absence of tax arrears and confirming that the individual is not on the list of disqualified persons. This certificate conditionally confirms the absence of restrictions on conducting business activities.
After preliminary agreement with the migration service, we attached it to the package of documents, and it was accepted as an acceptable alternative to the certificate confirming the absence of a ban on entrepreneurial activity. As a result, we were able to successfully obtain a 90-day temporary residence permit for a business immigrant.
Additional requirements and details
- Documents from Azerbaijan were provided in notarized copies with translations into Russian, as they were in Azerbaijani.
- All other documents, such as a medical certificate, fingerprint certificate, consent of the property owner, etc., are issued in Kazakhstan.
- The application for a temporary residence permit was submitted with a notarized power of attorney from the property owner. The owner must be registered in the same city where the application is submitted (in our case, Almaty).
- A foreign citizen must have a valid IIN issued for the passport used to apply for a temporary residence permit and for the last entry into Kazakhstan.
As a result, in our case, the business immigrant’s temporary residence permit was successfully obtained within the established time frame. Subsequently, during the period of validity of the temporary residence permit, a company (LLC) was registered, which creates the basis for extending the temporary residence permit for one year based on a request from the authorized state body (the Department of Entrepreneurship and Investment).
This case demonstrates that competent support and knowledge of administrative procedures make it possible to develop sustainable solutions within the framework of current legislation, even in the absence of standard tools.
