
A legal regulation basis for the issues of migration is the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in accordance with which the foreigners and stateless persons have the rights and freedoms in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as bear the obligations established for the citizens, unless otherwise provided by the Constitution, laws and international treaties.
The procedure for attracting foreign labor is regulated by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On migration of the population", "On employment of the population", Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 15, 2016 No. 802, Rules and conditions for the issuance and (or) extension of the permits to the employers to attract foreign labor, as well as the implementation of an intra-corporate transfer, approved by the order of the acting Minister of Health and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 27, 2016 No. 559.
The foreigners in the Republic of Kazakhstan have all the rights and freedoms, and also bear all the obligations established by the Constitution, laws and international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with the exception of cases provided for by the laws and international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The categories of the foreign workers
In order to determine the procedure and conditions for the issuance and (or) extension of the permits for attracting foreign labor (hereinafter, the permit), the following categories of workers are established:
To employ foreign labor, employers annually, before October 1 of the year, submit to the local executive bodies of the regions, cities of republican significance, the capital (hereinafter, the local executive bodies), on the territory of which the foreign workers are expected to carry out the works, the requirement for foreign labor in accordance with Annex 1 to the Rules for setting a quota for attracting foreign labor into the Republic of Kazakhstan and distributing among the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, approved by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 15, 2016 No. 802 (hereinafter, the Rules for setting a quota).
When the Commission designated for setting a foreign labor quota issues the recommendations to meet the domestic employer’s requirements for the attracting foreign labor for the upcoming year, the employer in turn, to obtain a permit, would send to the authorized body an application for obtaining a permit to attract foreign labor with attachment of the documents provided for by the Rules and conditions for the issuance and (or) extension of permits to attract foreign labor for the employers, as well as for the intra-corporate transfers, approved by the order of the acting Minister of Health and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 27, 2016 No. 559 (hereinafter, the Rules).
In accordance with paragraph 16 of the Rules, the issuance and (or) extension of permits by the local executive body is carried out subject to the following conditions:
When calculating the local personnel content, the number of foreign labor does not include the citizens of the states the parties to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, ratified by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated October 14, 2014.
The employer who attracts foreign workers within the framework of an intra-corporate transfer provides the percentage of the number of foreign workers (managers and specialists) involved within the framework of an intra-corporate transfer, which is no more than fifty percent of the number of Kazakhstani personnel of the corresponding category.
For the issuance and (or) extension of the permit, the employers are charged a tax fee (hereinafter the fee) according to the collection rates for the issuance and (or) extension of the permit to attract foreign labor to the Republic of Kazakhstan, approved by the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 3, 2018 No. 157 "On the establishment of fees for the issuance and (or) extension of the permit to attract foreign labor to the Republic of Kazakhstan."
The attraction of foreign labor within the framework of an intra-corporate transfer is carried out outside the quota and on a free basis.
Article 519 of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 5, 2014 "On Administrative Offenses" provides for the fines for the following offenses in the field of foreign labor employment:
The foreign labor employment by the employer without permit of the local executive body or the use of the labor of the foreigners and stateless persons who do not have qualification certificates for their self-employment issued by authorized body on the issues of population migration, or labor immigrant permits issued by the internal affairs bodies shall result in the recovery of a fine for the individuals in the amount of thirty, for the officials in the amount of fifty, for the small businesses or non-profit organizations in the amount of one hundred, for the medium-sized businesses in the amount of two hundred, for the large businesses in the amount of seven hundred MCI.
The employment of a foreign worker by the employer for the position (trade or specialty) that does not match to the position (trade or specialty) specified in the permit of the local executive body shall result in the recovery of a fine for the individuals in the amount of thirty, for the officials in the amount of fifty, for the small businesses or non-profit organizations in the amount of one hundred, for the medium-sized businesses in the amount of two hundred, for the large businesses in the amount of seven hundred MCI.
The actions provided for in parts one and two of this article, committed repeatedly within a year after the imposition of the administrative penalty, shall result in the recovery of a fine for the individuals in the amount of fifty, for the officials in the amount of one hundred, for the small businesses or non-profit organizations in the amount of two hundred, for the medium-sized businesses in the amount of three hundred, for the large-scale businesses in the amount of one thousand monthly calculation indices.
The employment by the employer the individual of the labor immigrants for work completion (services provision) in the household without an appropriate permit issued by the internal affairs bodies, or the conclusion of labor contracts for work completion (services provision) in the household by one employer the individual simultaneously with more than five labor immigrants shall result in the recovery of a fine in the amount of thirty monthly calculation indices.
The actions provided for by part five of this article, committed repeatedly within a year after the imposition of an administrative penalty shall result in the recovery of a fine in the amount of fifty monthly calculation indices.