Acquired foreign citizenship: 35 people penalized in Kazakhstan

Tengrinews.kz — Since the beginning of the year, more than 550 people in East Kazakhstan Region have lost their Kazakh citizenship after acquiring citizenship of other countries. At the same time, 35 people were held accountable for violating citizenship laws, according to Polisia.kz.

The regional migration service said that 26 people failed to report the acquisition of foreign citizenship within the required period. Another nine continued using Kazakh passports or identity cards after obtaining citizenship of another country.

According to police, some violators continued using Kazakh documents to enter and reside in the country, hoping to retain social, pension and other state benefits.

One such case involved a 64-year-old resident of the regional center. The woman had acquired citizenship of another country but failed to report it within the required period and continued using Kazakh documents. During an inspection, the documents were confiscated and the loss of her Kazakh citizenship was officially registered.

Police reminded the public that Kazakhstan’s legislation does not permit dual citizenship. Those who acquire citizenship of another country must notify the migration service in a timely manner and surrender their Kazakh documents.