Kazakhstan Extends Suspension Of Visa-Free Visits By Citizens Due To Pandemic

A woman receives a dose of the Sputnik vaccine against the coronavirus in Almaty, Kazakhstan on April 2.

Kazakhstan has extended until December the suspension of visa-free visits for citizens of 54 countries that were introduced last year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The Central Asian nation’s Foreign Ministry announced on May 4 that the suspension, which expired three days ago, had been prolonged as the country tries to continue to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Kazakhstan introduced visa-free visits in 2012 to 57 nations, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, European Union members, Japan, South Korea, and several countries in Asia, the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf.

The suspension continues for all of those countries, with the exception of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea.

As of May 4, the number of registered coronavirus cases in the former Soviet republic with the population of 18.8 million people was 330,071, including 3,762 deaths.