December 6, 2022

Dual citizenship

In accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter — RoK) and Article 3 of the Law of the RoK “On Citizenship of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, citizenship of another state is not recognized for a citizen of the RoK. However, it is not uncommon for citizens of the RoK to acquire citizenship of a foreign state without renouncing the citizenship of the RoK, and thus have illegal dual citizenship. The main motive for obtaining a second citizenship is not just the desire for free movement, but also the receipt of certain material benefits (for example, pension settlement, allowance for the birth of a second child, etc.).

Before accepting citizenship of another state, a citizen of the RoK must renounce his Kazakhstani citizenship.

If a citizen has obtained foreign citizenship without leaving the citizenship of the RoK, he is obliged to inform about it within 30 calendar days and hand over his passport and/or identity card of the RoK to the internal affairs bodies or foreign institutions of the RoK. In relation to this category of persons, the fact of loss of Kazakhstani citizenship is registered.

The applicant will be refused admission to Kazakhstani citizenship if he is a citizen of another state. In order to become a citizen of the RoK, the applicant must renounce foreign citizenship and hand over his foreign passport to the authorized body of the country of former citizenship.

Many citizens neglect the established rules and, using various methods, obtain or retain citizenship of a foreign state together with the Kazakhstani one. However, the internal affairs bodies carry out checks, and in case of detection of the presence of dual citizenship, they register the loss of citizenship of the RoK of these persons. If a citizen still continues to use identity documents after the loss of citizenship of the RoK, he will be brought to administrative responsibility in the amount of 100 MCI according to paragraph 1 of Article 496 of the Code of the RoK “On Administrative Offenses”.

If you have the citizenship of another state, but you need to regularly stay in the territory of the RoK, it is recommended to acquire a residence permit for such situations.