• A state of emergency in Kazakhstan began at 08:00 on March 16, 2020 and includes restrictions on entry and exit with specific protocols for diplomatic passport holders, essential personnel and Kazakh citizens.
• Due to the global spread of coronavirus, all public gatherings, such as cultural and sports events, conferences, and exhibitions are now temporarily suspended.
• The government ensures steady supply of food and other necessities and urged officials to minimize the impact of the outbreak on small- and medium-sized businesses;
• Spring breaks at secondary schools will start on March 16 instead of March 22, while university students will switch to an off-campus learning regime;
• Strict sanitary controls are being imposed in shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, transportation stations, airports, and other public and frequently populated areas.

Kazakhstan is working closely with WHO

• Visitors arriving in Kazakhstan are subject to monitoring or quarentine.
• All international arrivals at airports, border crossings and ports of entry are monitored upon arrival for symptoms of COVID-19.
• All international arrivals are screened for above-normal body temperature and other respiratory and flu-like symptoms associated with COVID-19.

MEMO for the attention of travelers to Kazakhstan!

Note: some of this information may not be current. Please look elsewhere on this website before booking travel or otherwise. Please messaging the consular section that is assigned to your state if questions remain.

Dear citizens and guests, A state of emergency was declared in the Republic of Kazakhstan on 08:00am on March 16, 2020 in response to the contagion of the novel coronavirus. The following measures are in effect for the duration of the state of emergency:

1) Restrictions on entry and exit at all state border crossings for citizens of Kazakhstan and foreign nationals, with the exception of:

• citizens of Kazakhstan returning to Kazakhstan and whose departure preceeded the emergency declaration;
• citizens of Kazakhstan traveling abroad for medical treatment – upon presentation of supporting documents of healthcare institutions;
• foreign nationals who entered Kazakhstan before the emergency declaration and are transiting through Kazakhstan to a final destination;
• staff of the diplomatic service of Kazakhstan and foreign states and members of their families; members of delegations of foreign states and international organizations traveling to Kazakhstan at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan; crew members of train, locomotive, aircraft and seagoing vessels;
• service personnel of foreign cross-border facilities on the territory of Kazakhstan and service personnel of Kazakh cross-border facilities on the territory of neighboring states;
• foreign nationals transiting on passenger trains – if departure preceeded the emergency declaration;
• foreign nationals and stateless persons who hold Kazakh residency permits;
• foreign nationals who are family members of citizens of Kazakhstan (subject to confirmation of kinship – spouses, parents and children).

2) Citizens and foreign national pesonnel of cross-border facilities - railways, highways, pipelines, power lines, cables, bridges, dams, water gates, water channels and other facilities crossing the state border,

• as well as objects of one of the parties located within the border territory (border zone), on the territory of the other party;

3) Boarder crossings are suspended for Kazakh citizens at crossing points on the Kazakh-Russian state border operating in accordance with the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Russian Federation on the crossing of the Kazakh-Russian state border by residents of border territories of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

• Exceptions are given to cases of emergency medical assistance to citizens of the parties to the Agreement.

Based on the decisions made by Interdepartmental Commission with the aim to prevent further spread of coronavirus to Kazakhstan, currently 49 regular international flights per week have been suspended and 84 international flights per week have been reduced, among them:

Suspended:

• All regular flights between Kazakhstan and China (34 flights per week);
• All regular Tehran - Almaty flights between Kazakhstan and Iran (Mahan Air, 1 flight per week),
• Regular Nur Sultan - Baku flight (3 flights per week);
• 7 regular Frankfurt – Almaty flights (Lufthansa, 4 times a week) and Frankfurt - Almaty - Nur Sultan (Lufthansa, 3 times a week) until April 24 this year;
• All regular Nur-Sultan-Paris flights between Kazakhstan and France (Air Astana, 2 flights per week).

Reduced:

• 6 flights between Kazakhstan and South Korea (Air Astana: Almaty - Seoul, from 5 to 1 and Nur-Sultan - Seoul, from 2 to 1; Asiana Airlines: Almaty - Seoul, from 2 to 1);
• 9 flights a week between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan (Air Astana: Almaty - Baku, from 3 to 1 flight a week; SCAT: Aktau - Baku, from 7 to 1; Azerbaijan Airlines: Baku - Almaty, from 2 to 1 flight);
• Between Kazakhstan and Japan, Nur-Sultan-Tokyo flights reduced from 2 to 1 per week (SCAT).

In addition, since March 16 this year 68 regular flights per week of Kazakhstan (Air Astana, SCAT) and foreign (Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Fly Dubai, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Wizz Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Belavia) air carriers to Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, India, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland have been reduced and 2 regular flights per week were suspended (SCAT: Nur-Sultan - Antalya, Almaty - Antalya).

Under imposed emergency in Kazakhstan and in order to prevent a further increase of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan, the following measures were taken in airline service:

Due to suspension of these flights, it is recommended that airlines provide full refund of the returned tickets without imposing penalty to passengers. The passengers willing to return the tickets shall contact the place of their purchase.

Restrictions of flights to countries with a high prevalence of coronavirus are temporary. As soon as situation improves, the regular flights between the countries will be resumed.

Those passengers who have further questions may contact the airlines by the following numbers:

• Turkish Airlines: +7 7172 570849, +7 727 3333849, from 9 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday;
• Belavia: +7 7172 320241, from 9 AM to 7 PM;
• Fly Dubai: +7 800 070 2833, (free call from mobile phone), 24/7;
• Etihad Airways: +7 800 5556248, 24/7;
• Pegasus Airlines: +7 705 5558444, 24/7;
• Lufthansa: 7 727 333 5025, from 10 AM to 9 PM, weekends from 11:30 AM to 8 PM;
• Uzbekistan Airways: +998 78 140 02 00, from 8 AM to 8 PM;
• Wizz Air: +36 16777136, 24/7;
• Air Astana: +7 7172 584477, +7 727 2444477, +7 702 7024477, 24/7;
• SCAT: +7 7252 998880, 24/7;
• Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan: +7 7172 64 58 40, +7 7172 64 58 41, 24/7

If you think that you are infected with the coronavirus or have symptoms consistant with COVID-19 you should:

1. Stay inside your hotel room or place of stay and do not interact with other people.
2. Immediately call the U.S. embassy in Nur-Sultan at (+7-7172) 70-21-00. After regular hours, call: (+7-7172) 70-22-00. U.S. Mission in Kazakhstan maintains a list of English-speaking physicians.
3. Local Rescue Service can be reached by dialing 112. 103 for Emergency Medical Assistance, 101 for Fire, 102 for Police. English will likely not be spoken by Rescue Service reached by phone.

U.S. Embassy Nur-Sultan
Rakhymzhan Koshkarbayev
Avenue 3
Nur-Sultan 010010 Kazakhstan
Telephone: (+7-7172) 70-21-00
Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +(7) (7172) 70-21-00 (or 011-7-717-270-21-00 from the U.S.)
Fax: +(7) (7172) 70-22-80
Email: USAKZ@state.gov

Note that the City of Astana changed its name to Nur-Sultan in March 2019.

U.S. Consulate General Almaty
Zholdasbekov Street 97
Samal-2
Almaty, Kazakhstan 050051
Telephone: +(7) (727) 250-49-01
Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +7 727-250-76-12 (or 011-7-727-250-76-12 from the U.S.)
Fax: +(7) (727) 250-48-84
Email: USAKZ@state.gov

The U.S. State Department recommends that US citizens before traveling abroad to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.