Kazakhstan · Tax regime
AIFC Investment Tax Residency Programme (ITRP)
Open, and launched in September 2023 with steady growth since. The qualifying investment is USD 60,000, not the USD 300,000 often quoted, which actually belongs to the separate investor visa. The only instrument currently available is securities listed on the Astana International Exchange (AIX), bought through AIX CSD participant brokers and held for the full validity of the certificate.
USD 60,000 buys a five-year family visa, tax residency after just ninety days instead of 183, an exemption on foreign income, and no Kazakh tax on capital gains, interest or dividends from AIX-listed securities. All of this sits inside a financial centre with a 0% corporate rate committed until 2066. As a pure tax structure, nothing else in the region matches it on price. The condition is that you treat Kazakhstan strictly as a tax jurisdiction and never go near the passport.
Qualifying routes
You must hold it for the entire period the certificate is valid. It is purchased through AIX CSD participant brokers.
The facts
- Minimum
- $60k
- Total landed cost
- The investment itself is USD 60,000. On top of that comes an application fee of roughly USD 7,750 for the principal, or USD 11,375 for principal plus spouse, and an optional annual tax residency certificate fee of 7,000 MCI. These fee figures come from an AIFC FAQ referencing 2023 MCI values, so they are likely out of date. Verify before quoting them.
- Route type
- Tax regime, not a visa
- Timeline
- 2–4 months (The AIFC makes the final decision.)
- Physical presence
- 90 days a year instead of the standard 183 to establish tax residency. This is the core benefit.
- Family
- Spouse, aged 18 or overChildren under 18, included on a single application
- Permanent residency
- This is not a route to permanent residence. The visa runs for 5 years, with unlimited entry.
- Citizenship
- Not applicable. See the watch-outs below: Kazakh citizenship is something to actively avoid here.
- Language test
- Not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted. You would have to renounce.
- Requirements
- USD 60,000 in AIX-listed securities, held for the full periodno Kazakh tax residency or citizenship in the preceding 20 yearspurchase made through an AIX CSD participant brokera clean criminal recordan AIFC application, plus fees
- THE DUAL-CITIZENSHIP BAN IS NOW CONSTITUTIONAL. A referendum on 15 March 2026 approved a new Constitution with roughly 90% support on 73% turnout. Tokayev signed it 17 March, and it took effect 1 JULY 2026, two weeks ago. Article 13 bans dual and multiple citizenship. Acquiring another citizenship now causes loss of Kazakhstani citizenship. Citizens who acquire a foreign nationality must report within 30 calendar days and surrender their Kazakh passport. A Mazhilis deputy has proposed criminal liability for holding dual citizenship. That is not yet law, but it is worth watching. For a UHNW family with a passport portfolio, naturalising in Kazakhstan is a value-destroying event.
- THE 20-YEAR LOOKBACK DISQUALIFIES MANY NATURAL CANDIDATES. You must not have been a Kazakh tax resident or citizen within the preceding 20 years. That rules out a large share of the Russian-speaking families who would otherwise fit.
- THE INVESTMENT MUST BE MAINTAINED, not made once. The certificate depends on continuing to hold the AIX position.
- AIX LIQUIDITY IS THIN. USD 60,000 must sit in a small frontier exchange for five years, and exit pricing is not assured.
- PIT IS NO LONGER 10% FLAT. The new Tax Code, effective 1 January 2026, introduced 10%/15% progressive rates and raised VAT to 16%. The registration threshold was also halved, from 20,000 to 10,000 MCI, catching far more small structures. Any model still built on the idea that Kazakhstan is 10% flat is out of date.
- VISA HOLDERS CANNOT WORK for other AIFC or Kazakhstan entities except in management roles.
- KAZAKH BANKS ARE ALSO BLOCKING RUSSIAN NATIONALS' ACCOUNTS, under the same post-December-2025 EU AML pressure affecting Armenia.
- Kazakhstan has controlled foreign company, or CFC, rules. If you own 25% or more of a foreign company, and that company faces an effective rate below 10% or sits in a blacklisted jurisdiction, its income can be attributed to you. A recent amendment carves out an exception for companies in treaty countries with a nominal corporate tax rate above 15%.
- The MCI fee figures, USD 7,750 / 11,375 / 7,000, are probably out of date. The itrp.aifc.kz subdomain failed to resolve when we checked. Verify the current schedule directly with the AIFC.
- Wealth tax, inheritance tax and exit tax are reported as absent, but we found no clear statement either way in official sources. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.