New visa requirements at Kazakhstan Embassy in Bishkek

It appears that there is a new requirement at the Kazakhstan Embassy in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) for persons applying for a 90 day tourist visa.

You will not be issued a Letter of Invitation (LOI) unless you are a resident of Kyrgyzstan. It also appears that this will now become common practise amongst all the CIS countries.

I cannot find any "official" information on any Kazakhstan government website (this is not entirely unexpected ...) but I was informed of this development today when my application for a LOI for a visa to be issued at the Kazakhstan Embassy in Bishkek was turned down ...

I realise that this may not directly affect expats on working visas or permits, but may well affect family members visiting on tourist visas.

If anyone has any further or more "official" information on this, I'm sure there are many who would be grateful.

And they wonder why Kazakhstan is not at the top of everyone's "must visit" list ...