Kazakhstan Citizens Now Enjoy Visa-Free Access To 41 Countries

Kazakhstan is slowly but surely asserting itself on the world tourism map. According to Kazinform, Kazakh citizens can now travel to 41 countries without a visa. Over the span of the last decade, the country of Kazakhstan has introduced more than 30 new countries to the existing list of those with visa-free access. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports revealed that the figure has now increased to 81 countries where citizens of Kazakhstan can travel without a visa or get a visa on arrival, while six more agreements are pending for implementation.

Kazakhstan Citizens Now Enjoy Visa-Free Access To 41 Countries

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With regard to tourist visas, some countries give preference to citizens of Kazakhstan in terms of duration of stay. Of all the countries, Georgia offers the most extended one year of visa-free access. Armenia and Saint Vincent And The Grenadines allow a stay up to 180 days. There are about fifteen countries including Russia, Turkey, Mongolia, Albania and Moldova that allow stays for ninety days. In some places such as Hong Kong, Iran and Oman, visa free access is granted for two weeks only.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan makes efforts towards the elevation of prestige of Kazakhstani passport across the world. In this regard, economist and head of the DESHT Institutional Transformation Group analytical center Kuanysh Zhaikov spoke of the pragmatic aspect of reaching visa-free agreements. He mentioned that the agreements would allow Kazakhstan to reach the same agreements with bigger and more economically powerful countries.

In 2023, Kazakhstan kept expanding its list of visa-free countries, signing agreements with places like Bangladesh, Seychelles, San Marino, China, and Vietnam. They’re also working with the European Union to make the visa process easier. This could mean lower fees, faster processing, and longer-lasting multiple-entry visas.

Kazakhstan’s visa-free travel list for Kazakh citizens has also grown to include destinations like Thailand, Morocco, and Rwanda. With these new options, the number of tourists coming to Kazakhstan has skyrocketed. In 2023 alone, 9.2 million foreign tourists visited, with almost nine million from visa-free countries. This influx was fueled in part by new visa treaties with countries such as China, India and others.

By way of illustration, after the introduction of a reciprocating visa-free arrangement with China, the arrivals of visitors from China grew from 18,000 in the year 2022 to an astounding 367,000 in 2023. Furthermore, the figure of Indian tourists also increased by almost 3 times, which was 28,000 in the year 2022 and 78,000 in the year 2023.