We offer our skills and experience in the following fields:
- Licensing for:
- industrial activity;
- atomic energy usage;
- import and export of goods and services;
- architecture and construction;
- telecommunications;
- fire safety;
- tourism;
- recruitment;
- currency transactions;
- Certification.
- Permits:
- work permits;
- visas (work, business, investor);
- tax-payer Registration Number (TRN);
- residence permits;
- legalisation and apostillation of documentation;
- individual entrepreneurs.
To be confident in the future of your business, it is important to obtain in time all the permits stipulated by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, relying on our qualified help.
Licensing
Kazakhstan's laws have established a long list of licensed activities. The procedure for obtaining a licence is complicated and consists of several obligatory stages, involving applications to various state authorities.
In order to obtain a licence, an applicant must meet the qualification requirements for a given activity, in line with the demands of the state authorities or an independentexpert evaluation. Certain types of licence require the post-licensing submission of reports and compliance with state control requirements. Performing licensed activities without a licence can entail either administrative or criminal liability, together with the seizure of profits by the State. Therefore, compliance with the provisions of the licensing legislation is vital and requires a professional approach.
GRATA provides the following services:
- advice on all legal issues in the field of licensing;
- assistance for following all licensing procedures, including correctly drafting the requisite package of documentation and receiving the appropriate approvals from, and coordinating with, state authorities;
- conducting relations with state authorities: providing legal support for submitting reports and meeting state control requirements; and representing a client's interests during any inspections by state authorities.
Among the various kinds of licences, many clients show particular interest in those with relevance and importance to certain branches of the economy.
Licensing for industrial activity
At present, the national economy is largely made up of elements of the industrial sector: oil and gas, chemical industry, mining, power and metallurgy. Certain kinds of activity in the industrial sector are subject to obligatory licensing. In particular, we have wide-ranging experience in obtaining the following licences:
- designing and operating power plants, electric networks and substations and hydraulic engineering facilities;
- designing and operating industrial manufacturing plants at risk of explosion and fire;
- designing and operating mining plants and drilling works for oil and gas;
- designing and operating main oil and gas product-pipelines;
- designing and operating boilers, vessels and pipelines working under pressure;
- designing and operating subsurface facilities.
Licensing for atomic energy usage
The use of atomic energy as a highly-efficient energy source is one of today's most pressing issues. However, it is also highly-dangerous. For this reason, licences are issued for each of the following activities:
- storing, designing, constructing, commissioning, operating, deactivating and disposing of equipment for atomic energy usage;
- import and export of goods and services for atomic energy usage, including the transfer, sale or purchase for commercial purposes and the transfer of goods and services of a non-commercial nature; providing services and carrying out works for atomic energy usage;
- interaction with nuclear materials, sources of ionising radiation and radioactive substances, safely conducting the exploration and extraction of minerals containing these substances, and also the manufacture, use, processing, transportation and storage of nuclear materials, radioactive substances and radioactive waste products;
- scientific research for the use of nuclear installations, sources of ionising radiation, nuclear materials and radioactive substances;
- management of atomic energy usage;
- all kinds of activity in places of the lead nuclear explosions;
- physical protection of nuclear installations and nuclear materials;
- account and control of nuclear materials, sources of ionising radiation, radioactive substances and radioactive waste products;
- control of radioactive conditions in the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- transit of nuclear materials and radioactive substances through the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- training and certification of experts and staff.
Licensing of import and export of goods and services
To maintain state security and law and order, and to protect the environment and people's life and health, the licensing of the import and export of a range of goods is stipulated by law. Companies frequently require the following licences:
- import and export of gunpowder, explosives, detonation devices and pyrotechnics;
- export of rare ground metals, raw materials for manufacture, alloys, connections and products;
- import and export of poisons;
- import and export of nuclear materials, technologies, equipment and installations, special non-nuclear materials, sources of radioactive radiation, equipment for the use of alpha-, beta- or gamma-radiation;
- import and export of equipment for intelligence operations, protection of information, and other technical equipment with dual application (including parts of engineering programmes);
- import of X-ray equipment and devices for the use of radioactive substances and isotopes;
- import of equipment for alcoholic production;
- import of medical products and medical equipment.
Licensing for architecture and construction
With so high a rate of construction across Kazakhstan, this type of licensing is one of the most needed. The list of licensed services in the architecture and construction sector includes:
- surveying for construction;
- designing for construction;
- construction;
- manufacture of building materials, products and designs;
- skilled labour.
Licensing for telecommunications
The telecommunications sector, including information technology, comprises numerous means of transferring information. The sector is not only an independent branch of the economy, but also a powerful driving force for developing business in general. In the telecommunications sector, the following activities are subject to licensing:
- providing local telecommunication services;
- providing intercity telecommunication services;
- providing international telecommunication services;
- providing IP-telephony (internet-protocol telephony) services;
- providing data transmission services (including internet and cable communication services);
- providing telecommunications services on a dedicated communication network;
- providing satellite mobile communication services;
- providing cellular communication services (according to the relevant standard, e.g. GSM);
- providing mobile telecommunication communication services (including mobile radio, radio telephone, trunking and paging services);
- providing services on the organisation of individual networks (paying the lease for channels in a network infrastructure);
- providing postal services;
- providing services for the technical operation of networks and communication lines (including telecommunication equipment and elements of an infrastructure of a network).
Licensing of fire safety
The role of fire safety — a necessary accompaniment to any construction site and to any inhabited or uninhabited premises — is vitally important and is controlled by licensing. The following activities require licences:
- design, installation, adjustment and maintenance of fire alarm systems and automatic fire-prevention mechanisms;
- manufacture of fire-preventative technical equipment and fire-protection equipment and facilities.
Licensing of tourism
According to the presidential strategy for the development of Kazakhstan until 2030, tourism is defined as one of the priority branches of the country's growing economy, and as a result the sector has grown in popularity. With a view to protecting the rights and interests of tourists, the following activities are subject to obligatory licensing:
- tour operating;
- tour agents;
- tour guides' services.
Licensing of recruitment
To prevent illegal labour, the laws of Kazakhstan regulate employment agencies by demanding licences for attracting foreign labour and exporting labour from Kazakhstan. The law stipulates that monthly reports must be submitted to the employment and social security authorities.
Licensing of currency transactions
Developing international integration rates are inevitably connected to performing currency transactions. Kazakhstan's legislation establishes a procedure for performing currency transactions for residents and non-residents, including types of currency regulation (licensing, registration, notification). In particular, the following currency transactions are subject to licensing:
- purchase by residents of securities from non-residents, share-based investment funds of non-residents; residents' contributions to the charter capital of non-residents' companies; and derivative transactions between residents and non-residents. Exceptions for banks, insurance companies and some other financial institutions are stipulated;
- commercial credit of residents to non-residents, for a delay of payment on exports or advance payment on imports carried out directly between suppliers and recipients of the goods or services for a term of more than 180 days (on occasion, 365 days), in case of excess of the sum of the commercial credit of an equivalent of 10 thousand US dollars;
- opening by residents of accounts in foreign banks abroad, except for accounts opened with due registration or notification.
Certification
Certification is a procedure for acknowledging — independently of the manufacturer and consumer and in written form on the part of the executor — that the production of a range of goods and services conforms to state requirements. According to Kazakhstan's laws, governmental decrees determine whether production must be either obligatorily or voluntarily certified to confirm with the state requirements.
Our lawyers will draft all the documentation and provide the legal support necessary to obtain the appropriate certificates.
Permits
The Republic of Kazakhstan's entry into the global communications network has led to an increase in the stream of foreign citizens into the country, and also to their participation in the national labour market. Kazakhstan's legislation contains a number of requirements for foreign citizens who wish to live and work in Kazakhstan, including a permit to engage foreign labour — the so-called «work permit» that must be obtained by an employer (the person or legal entity for whom the foreign citizen will work) from the appropriate authority.
Furthermore, foreign citizens staying in Kazakhstan must meet a number of requirements, depending on the purpose of their presence in the country: obtaining the appropriate type of visa; registering in the Republic of Kazakhstan; or obtaining a tax-payer registration number (TRN). If a foreigner wishes to carry out an entrepreneurial activity, they must be registered as an individual entrepreneur. Documentation of foreign countries must be legalised or apostillised, in accordance with international and Kazakhstan's laws.
GRATA offers the following services for obtaining permits:
- Work permits:
- obtaining work permits;
- submitting monthly reports for obtained work permits;
- extending work permits;
- re-approving the registry;
- Obtaining and extending work, business and investor visas; registering foreigners in the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- Obtaining a tax-payer registration number (TRN);
- Obtaining a residence permit;
- Registering foreigners as individual entrepreneurs;
- Legalising foreign documents in Kazakhstan; advising on issues of apostillation and legalisation of documentation.
