Kazakhstan now has a legal timetable for its electronic travel authorisation. Government Resolution No. 890 of 10 October 2026 rewrites the Rules on Entry and Stay of Immigrants and brings visa-free visitors into the system in four steps. Checks start on 1 November at Aktau International Airport and four road crossings, extend to the Astana and Almaty airports on 1 January 2027 and to every other crossing on 1 March. From 1 July 2027 the authorisation becomes mandatory and travellers without one can be turned back. It costs nothing, and the application has to go in at least 72 hours before the planned entry.
The resolution settles what was still open when we covered the scheme on 12 October. At that point Law No. 326-VIII had added the electronic entry permit to the Law on Population Migration, but the start dates, the list of countries and the fee were left to the government (https://tumah.kz/news/kazakhstan-qazeta-eta-pilot-voluntary-law-326-viii-2026). All three are now written down. The resolution takes effect ten calendar days after its first official publication; Kazakhstan Today puts that date at 24 October.
Who needs it
Paragraph 6 of the Rules names three groups: nationals of the 57 countries listed in paragraph 24 (the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Singapore among them, all allowed 30 days without a visa), nationals of Eurasian Economic Union member states, and nationals of countries that have visa-free travel agreements with Kazakhstan. The permit covers both entry and transit.
China is not named. Chinese citizens enter under the bilateral visa waiver agreement, so on the wording of the Rules they fall into the third group. Paragraph 4, however, says that where a ratified international treaty sets different rules, the treaty applies. As of 18 October neither the Kazakh authorities nor the Chinese embassy had published guidance specifically for Chinese nationals.
Four dates
1 November 2026: Aktau International Airport and the Urlyutobe (Pavlodar region), Aukhatty (Zhambyl region), Atameken (Turkestan region) and Nurly Zhol (Zhetysu region) road crossings. Nurly Zhol faces Khorgos on the Chinese side, so business travellers arriving overland from China will be among the first to meet the check.
1 January 2027: Astana and Almaty international airports.
1 March 2027: all remaining crossings.
During these three phases nobody is refused entry for lacking a permit; border officers explain that one is required.
1 July 2027: the permit becomes compulsory, and not having one is grounds for refusal.
How it works
Applications go through the digital platform for foreign nationals no later than 72 hours before the intended entry, with identification or authentication of the applicant. The interior ministry's bodies issue the permit in agreement with the national security service. It is valid for 180 calendar days but does not lengthen anyone's permitted stay, which is still counted under the existing rules. The fee is set at zero tenge.
At passport control the Border Service checks the permit through the Berkut unified digital system, and the traveller must show the same passport used for the application. A permit can be refused or cancelled on the grounds in Article 48 of the Law on Population Migration, and it is also cancelled if the holder's stay is shortened or the holder is administratively expelled. Notices arrive through the platform.
Rules related to this news
The resolution does not give the platform's web address. The trial phase ran through the QazETA app; the final service is to be announced separately.
Twenty-nine exempt categories
Paragraph 7 lists 29 categories of people who do not need a permit, provided they carry supporting documents. The ones that matter most for companies are:
holders of a valid Kazakh visa, a temporary residence permit or a residence permit;
children under 16 and people aged 65 or over;
airport transit passengers who stay airside;
truck drivers on international routes (vehicles, including trailer, with a permitted gross weight above 6 tonnes or a permitted payload above 3.5 tonnes), drivers of international buses with more than 12 passenger seats, and drivers in transit;
train, refrigerated-car and locomotive crews listed on each trip's crew sheet;
aircraft crews and ship crews.
In practice the drivers on cross-border freight runs are covered by the exemption, while the forwarding agents riding along and the colleagues flying in for meetings are not. Staff who already hold a valid work or business visa are exempt.
What companies can do now
- Staff crossing at Nurly Zhol after 1 November should learn the procedure in advance; nobody will be refused during the trial, but they will be told to apply.
- Before 1 July 2027, build the permit into travel planning with at least 72 hours of lead time, and make sure the passport on the application is the one being carried.
- Logistics operators should check their fleets against the weight thresholds in item 28 and sort out who is exempt and who is not.
- Watch for official guidance on how the new Rules interact with the Kazakhstan–China visa waiver agreement, from Kazakhstan's interior ministry and the Chinese embassy.
This article is based on the text of Resolution No. 890 and media reports. Official documents and border posts determine how the rules are applied.
The cover is an AI-generated illustration and does not depict the events described.
Sources:
Adilet legal information system (Government Resolution No. 890 of 10 October 2026), https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/P2600000890
Zakon.kz (14 October 2026), https://www.zakon.kz/pravo/6534935-elektronnoe-razreshenie-na-vezd-inostrantsev-kto-i-kak-dolzhen-oformlyat.html
Kazakhstan Today (14 October 2026), https://www.kt.kz/eng/society/kazakhstan_to_require_electronic_travel_authorisation_1378002184.html