Host Employers Penalized for Late Notification of Foreign National’s Arrival

The situation

Due to a policy change, effective immediately, host employers in Kazakhstan who fail to notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of a foreign national’s arrival in Kazakhstan within three business days will be fined the following amounts:

• 10 times the MCI (USD 75) for individuals, officials, small businesses, and non-commercial organizations;
• 15 times the MCI (USD 112) for medium sized businesses; or
• 20 times the MCI (USD 149) for large businesses

MCI is the monthly calculated index which is established each year and used to calculate fines, governmental fees and taxes in Kazakhstan. It is currently equivalent to KZT 2,405.

Impact on employers

Employers must work with their administrative department to ensure their government notification processes are updated to comply with the new requirement.

Background

Previously, the above fines only applied when a host entity failed to register their foreign workers with the local police upon their arrival to Kazakhstan; when a host entity failed to obtain proper documentation allowing the foreign national to stay in Kazakhstan; or when a host entity failed to ensure that the foreign national exited Kazakhstan when their term of stay expired.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to emea@fragomen.com.