Kazakhstan has quietly removed one of the more tedious steps for foreigners spending time in the country. As of 9 November, a pilot project from the Ministry of Internal Affairs lets non-citizens apply for an individual identification number — the IIN — entirely online, with a turnaround of just one working day.
The IIN is Kazakhstan's all-purpose personal ID code, and without one, a foreigner's practical life in the country stalls: it's needed for things like signing contracts, opening local services and handling official paperwork. Until now, getting one usually meant an in-person visit and a slower process.
The new route runs through the QazETA mobile app via the MAQ digital migration services platform, introduced under Ministry Order No. 825, signed on 2 November. The process is fully remote and identity-verified: applicants register in QazETA, consent to their data being processed, then photograph their passport or identity document. A biometric face check and liveness test follow, plus confirmation of the applicant's geolocation.
From there, the system does the legwork. It auto-generates the application for the user to review and top up if anything's missing, then cross-checks with the Berkut Unified Centralized System to confirm the applicant actually entered Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Internal Affairs then checks the application is complete, that the details match the identity document, and that no duplicate IIN has already been issued. If everything clears, the number is generated and pushed into the relevant information system.
Applicants track the outcome inside QazETA under the sections "View IIN Application List" or "View IIN," and can view and download their IIN registration certificate directly from the app.
Why should a traveller care? This isn't relevant for a three-day stopover in Almaty — but for anyone staying longer, it matters a lot. Digital nomads basing themselves in Kazakhstan, people on extended work or study stays, and frequent visitors who keep hitting bureaucratic walls will find the IIN far less of a hurdle. A one-day, queue-free online process is a meaningful quality-of-life upgrade for anyone making Kazakhstan a longer-term base, and it fits the country's broader push to digitise government services through the QazETA platform.
For long-stay visitors, the message is simple: download QazETA, have your passport handy, and expect your IIN within a working day if your paperwork and entry records are clean. Just remember the system verifies your legal entry into Kazakhstan, so it applies to those who have actually arrived in the country, not applicants from abroad.
