Restrictions on purchase of property by foreigners in Kazakhstan

Can a foreigner have a house on the right of ownership in Kazakhstan?

Unfortunately, Kazakh law allows a foreign to have a house on the right of ownership only if that person is a resident of Kazakhstan.

For example, Article 9 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Legal Status of Foreigners” stipulates that foreigners in the Republic of Kazakhstan can have a house on the right of ownership (with the exception of temporarily staying foreigners).

This is also referred to in the response of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 7, 2010 to question dd. June 28, 2010 No. 44193 (e.gov.kz).

However, I have a question for our legislators, why there is such a limitation? What is it function? What is it meaning?

After all, even the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan does not prohibit foreigners to have land plots on the right of ownership allocated for construction or built-up of production and non-production, including residential, buildings (constructions) and their complexes, including land intended for the maintenance of buildings (construction, structures) (p. 4, Art. 23 of the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

It appears, that a foreigner can have land on the right of ownership (for example, for individual housing construction), but he cannot built on this plot of land his own apartment?

This is a nonsense.

And, moreover, why there is such a prohibition??

From an economic point of view, giving foreigners the right to purchase the house in Kazakhstan could stimulate the construction industry in Kazakhstan; ensure the flow of money in the domestic economy. After all, a house is a commodity that can be sold both abroad (in a sense to export in exchange for funds from abroad), even though he remains in the country.

It is strange, but for some reason none of our legislators, nor the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan does not see or do not want to see this obvious fact.

Moreover, despite the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union (a more integrated union), nor Russian citizens, no Belarusian citizens or citizens of other EEC countries may not have housing in Kazakhstan on the right of ownership.

Whereas, for example, in Russia and in Belarus, foreigners can freely have real estate property on the right of ownership, including housing.

In most countries of the world there is no such prohibition too (including Europe, the USA, Turkey, etc.).

Another aspect which, in my opinion, demonstrates a significant incompleteness of this prohibitive legal norm, is given bellow.

Article 2 of the Law “On Legal Status of Foreigners” stipulates that foreigners in the Republic of Kazakhstan are persons who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan and have proof of citizenship of another state.

It follows from Article 4 of the same Law, the foreigners are considered as permanently residing in the Republic of Kazakhstan if they have obtained the permission and the document on the right of permanent residence in accordance with the procedure established by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the foreigners are considered as temporarily staying in the Republic of Kazakhstan if they are staying in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the other legal basis, as well as recognized the victims as a result of the commission of acts, recognized in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan as grave or especially grave crimes.

Thus, from the analysis of these legal provisions, it follows that there are three types of foreigners:

-Foreigners permanently residing in the Republic of Kazakhstan;

– Foreigners temporarily staying in the Republic of Kazakhstan;

– Foreigners who are not located in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Can a third category of foreigners have the dwellings on the right of ownership (flat, detached house, apartment, etc.)?

Once again, let’s look at the wording of the second paragraph of Article 9 of the Law “On the Legal Status of Foreigners”: foreigners in the Republic of Kazakhstan can have a house on the right of ownership (with the exception of temporarily staying foreigners).

It turns out that only the second category of foreigners (temporarily staying) cannot have a real estate property.

And if, for example, a foreign entity, located in Belgium, wants to buy an apartment or a house in Kazakhstan, not coming here (for example, by proxy), the law does not prohibit such a person to possess such housing in this case.

And the law says nothing at all about whether a stateless person can have the hose on the right of ownership.

After analyzing these rules of law I come to the unequivocal conclusion that the current version of Article 9 of the Law “On Legal Status of Foreigners” requires careful revision, both from economic and from legal point of view.