Kazakhstan Unveils Reforms to Build Open, Skilled Migration System

Astana, The Gulf Observer: Aida Balayeva, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, has outlined the government’s comprehensive approach to implementing a presidential decree aimed at overhauling the country’s migration policy.

Speaking to media, Balayeva said the reforms are part of a coordinated, system-wide effort involving all levels of executive authority to modernise and streamline migration management. She noted that Kazakhstan is transitioning from a complex and largely restrictive framework to a more open, flexible, and transparent system designed to attract skilled professionals needed by the domestic economy.

“The goal is to create a predictable and favourable migration environment that ensures specialists can enter freely, develop professionally, and integrate comfortably into society,” she said.

Balayeva highlighted four key pillars of the reform agenda. First, the government aims to adopt a service-oriented model by simplifying procedures, expanding one-stop-shop services, digitalising core processes, and reducing interagency approvals.

Second, the reforms focus on de-bureaucratisation and administrative efficiency, including shorter processing times, streamlined regulations, and the introduction of digital monitoring tools.

Third, Kazakhstan is moving toward a managed human capital attraction model, including the introduction of the “Altyn Visa” (Golden Visa) programme to provide long-term certainty for investors and highly qualified professionals.

Fourth, the government plans to simplify the recognition of professional qualifications, particularly to support sectors facing labour shortages and high-tech industries.

Balayeva emphasised that the reforms are not aimed at weakening regulation but rather at making it more precise, targeted, and technologically advanced, aligning migration policy with the country’s broader economic development goals.