Visa for Republic of Kazakhstan

 We learned when we arrived to Ulaanbaatar from other travelers that Tibet is currently closed for any foreign visitors while celebrating their 60th anniversary of independence, and so we decided to change our upcoming route to travel the Silk Road, through western China towards Urumqi, into Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.In order to apply for the visitors single entry visa, we visited the embassy of Kazakhstan in Ulaanbaatar.


The embassy, located on the edge of city center, is open for visa applications on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10:00-12:00 and 16:00-18:00. We knew that in addition to application forms we needed to submit an invitation letter issued by the government, our first visit was just to collect necessary documents and information. Even though they were still on a holiday due to Naadam, an officer was kind enough to thoroughly explain what is needed, and with our Japanese passports,invitation letter was not necessary as long as we pay the application fee of USD30.00. A few days later in the evening, we went back with 2 application papers, a copy of passport page and a photo, only to learn that applications are usually submitted in the morning time. They still accepted our application nonetheless, and told us to come back the next day with a copy of a bank statement for the application payment. We did as we were told, and the visa was granted in a matter of 10 minutes.


One thing to keep in mind when traveling through Central Asia, is the foreigner registration that must be done within 72 hours of arrival. This was also required in Russia, and likely so in most of countries previously under the rule of Soviet Union. When flying in, the registration is done at passport control, but if you are a traveling by land, make sure to consult your hotel or to visit the local Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan.