100 out of 100 for access to entry, the maximum in the index. Only Taiwan matches it.
On paper Kyrgyzstan is one of the most open countries in our sample. There are several working routes in, no income threshold for either work or nomad status, and registration and visas are handled online with no queues or appointments. No integration courses or language tests are required to live there. In April 2026 the government nearly doubled the quota for foreign workers, from 52,000 to 100,000, citing a shortage of skilled labour.
The weak spots are transparency and changing rules. The state does not publish refusal statistics. The 90-in-180-day limit for anyone without a status took effect on 31 December 2025, and we found no transition period for people already living there: those who renewed their registration for years without a formal ground must now get an employment contract, nomad status or a residence permit.
Enforcement is real but aimed at people breaking the rules: in six months the Interior Ministry logged more than 19,000 violations, and courts ordered more than 450 foreigners expelled, mostly undocumented labour migrants. An amnesty for regularisation ran until 10 June 2025. We found no revocations of legal foreign residents' status: there are none in the Human Rights Watch reports for 2025 and 2026 or in Freedom House's review. In May-July 2026 the Justice Ministry forcibly dissolved 50 companies over sanctions risks; that is pressure on companies, not on residence status.
Status is secure: an EAEU citizen who loses a job has 90 days to sign a new contract without leaving, nomad status is not tied to any contract at all, and changing employer is free. The main friction is with banks: Keremet Bank has been under US sanctions since January 2025, Keremet and Capital Bank are in the EU's 20th sanctions package and EcoIslamikBank in the 21st, and some banks cap transfers and withdrawals at $3,000-10,000 a month. A spouse needs a separate ground to work. State schools are free, and teaching is not only in Kyrgyz.
The index score ignores nationality. This is what changes for citizens of specific countries.
No visa for up to 30 days, according to the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry's official visa portal; a facilitated visa regime is also available. To live and work you need the Single Permit or nomad status, which is open to citizens of visa-free countries.
As EAEU members, they work without a work permit and enter with a domestic ID. Kazakh citizens must give up their previous citizenship to naturalise.
Must give up their previous citizenship to naturalise; most other applicants do not.
No visa for up to 90 days, according to the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry's official visa portal. Work goes through the Single Permit or Digital Nomad status, as for everyone outside the EAEU.
Russia is in the EAEU: entry with a domestic ID, work on an employment contract without a work permit, no permit needed by the employer either, and no 61,767 som fee. Without a status, no more than 90 days in 180. When we checked on 9 August 2026 we found no restrictions by nationality. Accounts open with a passport and a personal ID number, but some banks are under sanctions and MBANK does not accept roubles from Russia.
The same EAEU rights: entry with a domestic ID, work without a work permit and without the fee. When we checked on 9 August 2026 we found no restrictions by nationality.
The place interval 1-6 shows where the country lands when the data is nudged and the index is recalculated. One place of difference in the table means nothing; a difference of a league means something.
The thin mark on each bar is the average across 97 countries
The strongest category here is Access to entry: 100 out of 100, against a 97-state average of 65.7. The weakest is Pressure on newcomers: 70 against 65.2. Above the world average: 7 out of 7.
For citizens of the Eurasian Economic Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia) entry is on an internal passport and work under an employment contract needs no separate permit. For everyone else there is a Digital Nomad status. Family members are registered on the day they apply, state schools are free, studying in Russian is widely available, and income tax is 10%.
In April 2026 the Cabinet of Ministers almost doubled the quota for hiring foreign workers, from 52,000 to 100,000, citing a shortage of qualified staff. It is a rare case of a country not merely letting people in but calling them.
DownsideSince 31 December 2025 there is a limit on staying without status, 90 days out of 180, and it applies to everyone, including citizens of the union. The old regime, with six-month registration and unlimited extension, is over. A bank account can be opened, but under sanctions pressure the banks are cautious.
All 97 states are calculated for one applicant: 35 years old, income of $2,500 and $3,856 a month before tax, passport not counted, the most accessible route that is actually in use.
Your passport, your income and your family do not change the table. They change which of its lines apply to you. A different income makes entry read differently, a family makes the family category read differently, and your passport makes everything read differently.
Registration is done on the day you apply, and Digital Nomad status is granted in 3 working days. The Single Permit was introduced on 30 April 2026; there is little practice yet, and the procedure runs only until the end of 2026.
Yes. Digital Nomad status for remote work for foreign clients needs neither a local job offer nor a minimum income. Registering a sole tradership or your own business is another route.
Since May 2026 the single work permit fee is 61,767 som (≈$700) per person; EAEU citizens do not pay it. We have not verified the official residence permit fee, so we give no full total.
Since 31 December 2025, no more than 90 days in every 180 without a formal status, EAEU citizens included. After that you need an employment contract, nomad status or a residence permit, or you face fines and possible expulsion.
Permanent residence after a period on temporary permits, about five years in practice. Citizenship after 5 years of continuous residence, with everyday command of the state language (Kyrgyz) or the official language (Russian); most applicants keep their previous citizenship.
On paper very much so: a low entry bar, no income requirements, online procedures. Enforcement targets people breaking residence rules, we found no revocations of legal status, and the main friction is banks under sanctions.
97 states, 26 indicators, seven categories, 2,522 scores. Every score has a source and a source class: primary means the texts of laws and government portals; reliable secondary means reports by international organisations, tax reviews by audit firms and specialist legal publications; weak means community posts and single secondary sources. The classes add up to a confidence level for the country, and a country with low confidence gets neither a score nor a place.
Every indicator is scored against a fixed ruler, not against its neighbours. Adding new countries therefore does not move the old ones, and a change in a score means a change in policy and nothing else.
A high place does not mean a good country. It means one thing: the state machine treats newcomers predictably and by the rules. Living there may be expensive, dull or hot; that is not our question.
Checked 01/10/2026. Facts come from the country's index card and official websites.
We make mistakes and we will go on making them: policy changes faster than any database. Our answer is not a pose of infallibility but a visible trail of corrections. Every correction is published: what it was, what it became, the source and the reason for the error. The corrections log opens with the second issue, together with the first block of changes.