By the Expat Gate editorial team · Checked 1 October 2026. This guide is for foreigners who are thinking about living and working in Kazakhstan long term and want to know what changes in autumn 2026.
The short answer. On 21 September 2026, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Labour and Social Protection published a draft that expands the list of in-demand professions from 51 to 174. A foreigner whose profession is on this list can get a residence permit without proving financial means, so the expansion would open the route to many more people. But it is still a draft: public consultation runs until 6 October 2026, the full list of 174 professions has not been published, and until the change is formally adopted the current list of 51 professions applies. The tax breaks for the Altyn Visa also exist only in a presidential decree and a draft law for now.
What changed on 21 September 2026
The Ministry of Labour posted on the Open Legal Acts portal a draft amendment to Order No. 49 of 20 February 2023. That order approves the list of in-demand professions that let foreigners obtain permanent residence under a simplified procedure. Under the draft, the list grows from 51 to 174 professions. The ministry says the goal is to attract highly qualified foreign specialists to priority sectors.
According to IMI Daily, the new professions cover medicine, engineering, construction, digital technology, energy, transport, agriculture and education. As of our check, the full text of the new list had not been published on the portal, and commenters on the draft are asking for it. So for now you cannot confirm whether your specific profession is included.
This is the second expansion: in February 2023 the list had 21 professions, and in May 2024 30 more were added, bringing it to 51.
How to track whether the change is adopted
The decision will appear on official government portals before it shows up in news summaries. These are the three pages worth opening and bookmarking:
- The draft expanding the professions list on the Open Legal Acts portal. It shows the status of the draft, the consultation deadline (6 October 2026), comments and the final version. While the status reads "under discussion" or "discussion completed", the change is not in force.
- The current Order No. 49 in the Adilet legal information system. Adilet is Kazakhstan's official database of legal acts. Once the amendment is adopted and registered, the order will get a new dated version with the updated list. Until then, the list of 51 professions applies.
- The draft law amending the Tax Code on the Open Legal Acts portal. This is where the tax rules for Altyn Visa holders sit. Public consultation closed on 25 September 2026. The tax breaks will apply only after parliament passes the law and the president signs it.
We will recheck these pages after the consultation closes and update this guide when the status changes.
What this means for you
| Your situation | What applies on 1 October 2026 | What to do now |
|---|---|---|
| Your profession is on the current list of 51 | The residence route already works | Do not wait for the new list; check whether your degree and experience meet the requirements |
| Your profession is not on the current list | You have no simplified route; the new list is not adopted yet | Follow the draft and watch for a new version of the order in Adilet |
| You work on a permit obtained by your employer | If the contract ends, the permit is cancelled | Check whether your profession opens a residence route that does not depend on the employer |
| You are ready to invest USD 300,000 or more | The investor visa works; the Altyn Visa and its tax breaks are still being introduced | Do not count the tax exemption in your numbers until the law is passed |
| You live in Kazakhstan visa-free with no status | The limit is 90 days within any 180 | Look for a residence ground rather than border runs |
Limits of this table: it shows the general direction. The specific answer depends on your profession under the national occupational classifier, your degree, your experience and which ministry issues the petition.
How the residence route for in-demand professions works now
The legal basis is subparagraph 6-1 of Article 11 of the Law on Migration of Population, Order No. 49 with the list of professions, and the rules for issuing residence permits. According to an explainer by the legal portal Defacto.kz (dated 8 September 2026), the route looks like this:
- Profession and qualification. The profession must be on the list, and your degree, experience and skill level must match the requirements of the national occupational classifier.
- Visa. Entry on a B9 visa; digital technology specialists may use the B9-1 visa, known as the digital nomad visa.
- Petition. It is issued by the relevant sector ministry: one for doctors, another for IT, a third for engineers.
- Application to the internal affairs authorities. A passport valid for at least 180 days, a criminal record certificate, proof of housing, a medical certificate, fingerprinting, a photo, the state fee and the petition.
- Timelines. Up to 45 calendar days to decide on the permanent residence permit, then up to 17 working days to issue the residence card. These are administrative stages, not the timeline of the whole move.
The key difference from other grounds: you do not need to prove financial means. The residence permit is issued for 10 years, but not beyond the validity of your passport. To keep the status, you must work in the stated profession for at least 183 days in any 12-month period and live in Kazakhstan for at least 183 days a year.
Why a residence permit is more secure than a work permit
A regular work permit in Kazakhstan is tied to the employer: when the employment contract ends, the permit is cancelled and the ground for staying in the country disappears. This is Kazakhstan's main diagnosis in the Expat Gate migration policy ranking. The country's weakest criterion is status security: 25 out of 100 against an average of 57.9 across 97 countries. It measures how easily you can lose the right to live in the country, for example together with your job.
A residence permit by profession loosens that tie: the status is issued to you, not to your employer. But the 183-day work requirement remains, so the status is not fully independent of the job market.
Altyn Visa: what is promised and what is still on paper
In late April 2026, the president of Kazakhstan signed a decree on improving migration policy. The country is moving from a permit-and-quota model to an incentive-based one, and the government must complete the reform by the end of 2026. Its centrepiece is the Altyn Visa ("golden visa") for investors and qualified specialists.
Under the decree, Altyn Visa holders and their family members are exempt from personal income tax, property and land taxes, and universal income declaration. To make this work, the Tax Code has to be amended. The Ministry of National Economy published the draft law on 3 September 2026: under the draft, the income of Altyn Visa holders and their family members is excluded from taxable income. The main provision is proposed to take effect on 1 January 2027. Until the law is passed, this is an intention, not a working tax regime.
Who will be able to apply for the Altyn Visa and when, according to Kazakh press coverage of the decree:
- investor visa holders: after one month;
- information technology specialists: after one month;
- other qualified specialists: after six months;
- temporary workers: after one year;
- participants in the investment tax residency programme of the Astana International Financial Centre.
For investors, the current entry point is the investor visa: at least USD 300,000 in the charter capital of a Kazakh company or in locally listed securities, by invitation from Kazakh Invest or the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the official materials we found, no separate threshold for the Altyn Visa itself has been published. Be wary of any intermediary who quotes one as final.
Why this is a turn, not just news
In January 2023, Kazakhstan introduced a limit of 90 days within 180 for visa-free visitors, ending the option of living in the country through border runs. The new measures do not lift that limit. The country is still not opening its doors to everyone: it is widening long-term status for people it chooses itself, by profession or by money.
What to check before deciding to move
- Look for your profession in the current Order No. 49. If it is there, there is no reason to wait for the new list.
- Match your qualification. Your degree, experience and level must fit the classifier requirements, not just your job title.
- Find out which ministry issues petitions in your sector, and ask about its timelines in advance.
- Watch two pages: the draft on Open Legal Acts and the new version of the order in Adilet. The new list takes effect after adoption and registration, not after the news.
- Do not build your budget on Altyn Visa tax breaks until the Tax Code amendments are passed.
- Remember the 183 days. A residence permit by profession requires you to work in it; it is not a passive status.
If you are moving with a spouse and children, go through our family relocation checklist before signing a contract or renting a home.
In the Expat Gate country card for Kazakhstan, the country ranks 55th out of 97 in the August 2026 edition of the migration policy ranking, league C. If the expanded list is adopted, it will improve the position of eligible specialists, but we recalculate the ranking based on adopted rules, not drafts.
Sources and limits of this check
How we prepared this guide. It started from a Country Attractiveness Monitor signal dated 28 September 2026. The Expat Gate editorial team checked it against the draft pages on the Open Legal Acts portal, the current order in Adilet, the Defacto.kz explainer of the route and Kazakh and international press coverage of the decree. We did not assess individual chances of approval and do not treat the new list as in force until it is adopted.
- Open Legal Acts, draft amendment to Order No. 49: list from 51 to 174 professions, consultation until 6 October 2026.
- Adilet, Order No. 49 of the Minister of Labour of 20 February 2023: the current list and the rules for drawing it up.
- Open Legal Acts, draft law amending the Tax Code: tax treatment of Altyn Visa holders.
- Defacto.kz: legal basis, documents, timelines and conditions for keeping a residence permit by profession.
- IMI Daily: sectors on the new list and route conditions.
- Zakon.kz and Lada.kz: the migration policy decree and Altyn Visa categories.
- Fragomen: investor visa conditions.