Author: Ross Watson

Astana has introduced tweaks to migration legislation restricting the length of time foreigners entering visa-free can spend in Kazakhstan, which will affect Russians fleeing conscription, among others. The government is clamping down on a loophole that effectively allowed foreigners from some countries to live in Kazakhstan without registering with the migration authorities. Some have used the opportunity to work in the shadow economy. Citizens of Russia theoretically enjoy freedom of movement in Kazakhstan and the right to live and settle in the country, since both are members of the Eurasian Economic Union, or EEU, a free trade bloc. Yet both…