ASTANA, June 9. /TASS/. Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry called on the media to carefully choose their wording and not mislead citizens with reports of an alleged visa regime between Kazakhstan and Russia due to new migration rules in Russia, the countries maintain visa free regime, Aibek Smadiyarov, official representative of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, said at a briefing.
Earlier, a number of media outlets reported on the introduction of new migration requirements in Russia from June 30, according to which it will be necessary to notify in advance about crossing the border. At the same time, the headlines of the articles mentioned that the new requirements allegedly introduce a visa regime, including for citizens of Kazakhstan.
"I would like to note that some media outlets use these simple migration requirements that many countries have - for example, we introduce some migration requirements, South Korea does, there are special permits - for some reason in the headlines they use [wording] that Russia is introducing a visa regime. We have a visa-free regime with the Russian Federation, and it will remain, this visa-free regime, so I ask, colleagues, not to stir up the population with incorrect headlines," he said.
He noted that this is only about "border crossing requirements."
"In the same way, when crossing European borders, at our border, visitors to our country have their biometrics taken. This is normal, but for some reason they take it out of context and give it a completely different tone," Smadiyarov said.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on citizens of Kazakhstan to get familiar with the rules in advance.
"Citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan traveling to Russia need to study the new border crossing requirements in advance so that this does not become a surprise, so that questions do not arise at the border," he said.
New rules for entry into Russia
Foreign citizens from June 30, 2025, when entering Russia, crossing the border through any checkpoint, will have to submit fingerprints and an image of their face. The corresponding norm is enshrined in a government decree. The changes will not affect citizens of Belarus, children under 6 years of age, diplomats and employees of diplomatic missions and consular offices of foreign states in Russia, as well as members of their families, employees of international organizations and their missions accredited in Russia, and members of their families. In addition, from June 30, no later than 72 hours before the trip, foreigners must fill out an electronic application for their planned entry into Russia.
Entry into Kazakhstan for Russians is visa-free, however, there are a number of requirements for foreign citizens, including holders of a Russian passport. For example, the host (an individual, a company or a hotel) must notify the Kazakh authorities within three working days of the arrival of a foreigner and his/her place of residence through a special online service. If a foreigner changes his/her place of residence while in Kazakhstan, such notification from the host must be submitted again. A citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to stay in Kazakhstan for up to 90 days within a period of 180 days, after the expiration of this period he/she must leave the republic or obtain a temporary or permanent residence permit if there are grounds for it - work, study, family reunification and other reasons. To obtain permits, one must provide fingerprints.