Republic of Kazakhstan

The main country of destination for labour migrants is Russia, where approximately 90% of all migrants from Kazakhstan during the period 1995-2014 find employment. A gradual decrease in the intensity of migration flows is observable. According to the Statistical Committee of the Ministry of National Economy, in 2014 the number of immigrants was 16,784 persons, the number of emigrants was 28,946 persons, and net migration amounted to minus 12,162 persons. The main category of immigrants is represented by returning Kazakhs, oralmans. Kazakhstan is the second main country of destination for labour migration flows after Russia within the CIS. Remittances account for approximately 0.3% of the national GDP.

The key policy instruments pertaining to migration are: 

• 1995 Presidential Decree on Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Republic of Kazakhstan
• 1995 Law “On the Legal status of aliens”
• 1997 Law on Population Migration (amended 2002, 2008) 
• Presidential Degree “On the Concept of the migration policy in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2007 – 2015” 

The Ministry of National Economy elaborates the state policy in the field of migration of population. The Ministry of Health and Social Development collects, analyses and disseminates the information about the foreign labour force in Kazakhstan (numbers pertaining to the foreign workforce by category and employers hiring the foreign labour force, the main countries of origin of migrant workers, etc.). The JSC "Information-Analytical Center on employment issues" processes data on foreign labour on a monthly basis.