Starting a business in Kazakhstan: foreigner's guide (2026)

Foreign nationals and legal entities may hold 100% of an LLP or JSC in most industries with no mandatory local-partner requirement. Exceptions include: mass media (max 20% foreign stake), domestic/international air carriers and certain telecom operators (max 49%), foreign bank branches (prohibited), and strategic subsoil deposits where the foreign share is capped below 50%.

The Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) is the standard vehicle for foreign-owned SMEs. Online registration via the egov.kz portal (single founder, EDS held) is completed within 1 working hour/day; multi-founder entities registered at a Public Service Centre take up to 5 business days.

LLPs classified as small businesses have no paid-in capital requirement at registration. Medium/large-business LLPs require a minimum charter capital of 100 MCI (~400,000 KZT / ≈$770 in 2025). A JSC requires at least 50,000 MCI (~196 million KZT / ≈$380,000).

Foreign individual founders must obtain a Kazakhstani Individual Identification Number (IIN) and an Electronic Digital Signature (EDS) issued by the National Certification Authority before filing online. Corporate founders must supply a legalized/apostilled extract from their home-country trade register with a notarised Kazakh/Russian translation.

Key steps are: (1) obtain IIN and EDS; (2) secure a registered legal address (lease/ownership document); (3) prepare founding documents (charter, decision to establish); (4) submit application via egov.kz or at a Public Service Centre; (5) receive certificate of state registration (typically same day online). No pre-approval from investment authorities is required in non-restricted sectors.

Amendments enacted in 2025 abolish the prior priority and special investment project frameworks and introduce new contractual investment incentive forms effective 1 January 2026. A separate January 2026 rule also mandates VAT registration for foreign companies supplying digital goods/services from their first payment.