Visa for wife?...

Generally, you can fly out to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and get a new visa in the Kazakh embassy there (drop application Monday, pick-up at 1800hrs Thursday).

For a 60 day visa, if you are from a list of 47 countries, you will be able to make the application without a letter of invitation (LOI), for a 90 day visa, you must have an LOI, there are plenty of agencies that offer this, I'll send you the one I use by private message.

Kyrgyzstan does not require a visa for many nationalities such as Australians up to 60 days, you can see the full list of countries here ... http://caravanistan.com/visa/Kyrgyzstan

In theory, there should be no problems getting back into Kazakhstan with relatively sequential visas separated by a week or so (I've not yet experienced a problem, although I'll see how I go tomorrow when I fly in from Bishkek to Almaty since I have been doing this for some time now).

The old visa system (until June 2013) you were able to get about 10 months with the various visas with little problem, but now they have disposed of the old 1 year business visa, it is more difficult

Flying Almaty-Bishkek and return is more advisable than going via road, because you are then spared the drama of chasing up her registration at the OVIR (migration police) in whatever city you and your wife will be residing (at the airport, they will give her 2 stamps on the "immigration card"). Also the border guards will not try for a "present" as they do at the land border at Kordai ...

She will also have to leave the country every 30 days however can re-enter almost immediately, for instance ALA-FRU-ALA KC109-KC110 for Air Astana, this is the system I use which means that you are returning on the same plane you arrived on ... the cabin crew are used to seeing the same faces on a return flight ...