Kazakhstan reports increase in number of foreigners

Over 7.5 million foreign nationals have arrived in Kazakhstan since the beginning of 2025, an increase of 600,000 from last year, according to Baurzhan Alenov, deputy minister of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. As he noted, 90% of the arrivals are citizens of CIS member states.

«Over the first six months of 2025, more than 7.5 million people entered Kazakhstan (7.2 million of them later left), which is 600,000 more compared to the same period last year. Ninety percent come from the CIS countries,» the official said during the government session.

Regions with the most foreigners

According to Alenov, 212,000 foreign nationals live permanently in Kazakhstan, with most of them in the city of Almaty (42,000), the Almaty region (32,000), the city of Astana and the Karaganda region (17,000 each). Over the past three years, the number in this category has increased by 42%.  

Number of foreigners arriving in the country to work

Furthermore, around 430,000 foreign nationals stay temporarily in Kazakhstan. The majority of them (360,000 people) came to work, while 17,000 arrived for family reunification and 8,000 chose Kazakhstan to study. The remaining arrivals indicated private purposes, including tourism.

Alenov emphasized that the vast majority of foreign nationals comply with migration regulations, as 97% of arrivals did not violate the law. On the other hand, migration authorities must deal with violators.

Number of denied entries

Since the beginning of the year, more than 200,000 foreign nationals have become subject to administrative penalties, with 46,000 of them for violating the rules of stay. Around 10,000 people have been expelled from the country with a five-year ban on re-entry.