Over 1 million foreigners registered in Kazakhstan in 9 months

Over 1 million foreigners were registered in Kazakhstan in 9 months of 2011, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the message at Kazakhstan Prime-Minister’s official website published after the meeting of the Inter-Authority Commission (IAC) on prevention of law breaches in the government on October 25. Interior Minister Kalmukhanbet Kassymov reported on measures on countering illegal migration. 1 million 70 thousand foreigners were registered in departments of migration police in 9 months, which is 7.6 percent more than during the same period of 2010. The majority of them are citizens of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States): 967.7 thousand people, or 89.6 percent. According to Minister Kassymov, currently the migration processes in the country are very active. Over 8 million foreigners arrived in Kazakhstan for temporary residency in the past 5 years. Activation of migration processes is related to liberalization of visa and registration procedures, Interior Ministry stated. “Kazakhstan has signed agreements for visa-free entrance for holders of diplomatic passports of 47 countries, for holders of business passports of 33 countries and for holders of national passports of 14 countries. A simplified visa procedure (without invitation letters) is set up for citizens of 48 politically stable and economically developed countries and they have a right to stay in Kazakhstan for up to 90 days without registration,” Kalmukhanbet Kassymov said. Prime-Minister gave instructions to authorized bodies at the end of the meeting.