KAZAKHSTAN SETS A VISA-FREE REGIME FOR CITIZENS OF 10 COUNTRIES

 

 

Astana, June 13: On June 12 during his speech at the meeting of the Foreign Investors Council at the Borovoe Lake resort under the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the introduction of Kazakhstan visa-free regime for citizens of 10 countries.

The Government of Kazakhstan issued an appropriate decree on the establishment of a visa-free regime for citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Malaysia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Korea and Japan starting from 15 July 2014 to 15 July 2015.

Over this period, citizens of these 10 countries holding valid diplomatic, official and national passports can multiply enter, exit and follow transit through the territory of Kazakhstan without a visa for up to 15 calendar days from the moment of crossing the state border. If there is a proved necessity for a foreign citizen from above mentioned countries to stay in the Republic of Kazakhstan longer than 15 days, they need as prescribed by law of Kazakhstan to obtain appropriate visa of "business" category at the bodies of internal affairs and of "investor" category in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The introduction of a visa-free regime from July 15, 2014 to July 15, 2015 has a pilot mode. Looking at the results of the project the Government will decide whether to continue or terminate it.

This initiative aims to strengthen Kazakhstan's bilateral partnerships, as well as to create favorable conditions for foreign investors and tourists during their stay in Kazakhstan. In the frames of the project, citizens of the mentioned countries will be able to come to Kazakhstan without visa and visit the historical, touristic, nature sight-seeing, and learn about Kazakh culture and establish business contacts.

"This is a special step of our country that aims to facilitate cooperation with other countries, attract investment and create favorable conditions for international travel on the eve of the international specialized exhibition EXPO-2017 in Astana," said First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and national commissioner for EXPO 2017 Rapil Zhoshybayev at a meeting with ambassadors and consuls of the countries accredited in Kazakhstan on June 13.

However, by setting the visa regime unilaterally Kazakhstan will actively continue negotiations with the mentioned and other interested countries to ease the visa requirements for the citizens of Kazakhstan.

"In the future, Kazakhstan will pay special attention to the procedure and the level of difficulty in obtaining visas to every single country while expanding the list of visa-free countries, and of visa exemption especially for those countries that create favorable conditions for entry for citizens of Kazakhstan," stressed Zhoshybayev.

 

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