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What You Need to Know When You’re Moving to Atyrau

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  • Marc De Smet

    Life as an expat in Astana can be hard on occasion. InterNations and the contact to fellow expats make it a lot easier for me.

Relocating to Atyrau

About the City

Atyrau is the capital city of the Atyrau Region in Kazakhstan. Situated 20 meters below sea level, this is one of the world’s very few bi-continental cities, due to its divided position between Europe and Asia on the Ural River. This moderately sized city covers 163,221 km2 and has a population of 154,100 people. 90% of the city’s inhabitants are ethnic Kazakhs, who have resided in Kazakhstan for thousands of years. After this, there are small expat communities, mostly Russians, Tatars and Ukrainians.

Russian and Kazakh are the official languages of the city. Russian is spoken more often in business and communications, while Kazakh is widely spoken by locals. The official religion of the city, and Kazakhstan as a whole, is Islam. Traditionally, Kazakhstani people are Sunni Muslims.

The Climate in Atyrau

The climate of Atyrau is classified as semi-arid. The city experiences intensely hot summers which resemble the typical Mediterranean climate and extremely cold, sub-arctic winters. The temperatures vary between the years, with summer highs of anywhere between 32°C and 4°C. During the winter months, the temperature drops to lows of -5°C to 14˚C and snow is common. It happened to reach -30°C in January, February and March. The rates of rainfall remain low throughout the year.

Visas for Kazakhstan

In order to enter Kazakhstan, all foreign nationals will require a visa, unless they are exempt under international treaty laws. Once a visa has been granted, it must be pasted into the foreign national’s valid passport and any other paper forms of identification. There are several different forms of visa which will allow nationals from overseas to enter the country including the private visa, investor visa and student visa. Expats intending on residing long term or permanently in Atyrau should make arrangements to apply for a permanent residence visa.

To secure a permanent residence visa, potential expats should contact the nearest Kazakh embassy and submit the necessary documents and forms of evidence. The required documents include a passport with at least three months validity remaining, a letter of invitation or visa support letter from the Department of Consular Service of Kazakhstan, a photograph and a handwritten letter of application. As well as this, the embassy will need to be provided with an accurately filled out visa questionnaire and evidence that the consular visa fee has been paid.

Nov 27, 2014, 2:30 PM
1 attendee
Come and join us fo our casual monthly get -together. I am still out of the country due to my awaiting a new Kazakh work permit so James Thompson and Akmarella Zhiyenaliyeva our two group consuls wil
Oct 31, 2014, 3:00 PM
15 attendees
We are pleased to invite you to our Halloween Event! Please note that Taxi drivers know it as the Astoria Restaurant in Almagul. We'll have a table reserved and marked for InterNations Members. Plea
As the nights close in we return to our favourite locations. Please come along and keep us company dancing and proping up the bar in one of the towns most popular venues. Tonight will be ideal to plan
Oktoberfest with authentic costumes and live entertainment at Prospect Pub Let's celebrate Oktoberfest together! Special German Wuerstchen and Bretzeln, and our guest from Russia Anastasia Nazarova

See all upcoming events for expats in Atyrau

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  • Marc De Smet

    Life as an expat in Astana can be hard on occasion. InterNations and the contact to fellow expats make it a lot easier for me.

  • Myra Jennings

    My husband works for an Astana oil company all day, so I had to make my own way to settle. So glad I've found the InterNations expat community.

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