Bureaucracy – if you are on holiday, rather than emigrating, coming into and out of the country is the most likely area you’ll encounter the most problems. To be fair, we’ve not been stopped in a couple of years, but if they decide you look like a likely person to have violated a rule, there isn’t a great deal you can do about it. Coming into the country, they can not let you in at all, and worse, leaving the country, they are only too well aware that you need to be available to get on a plane pretty soon.
Once you arrive in the country, you will need to register your presence, at the ‘Ovir’, within 3 or 4 business days. This is normally not a problem, the worst part being if their sewers are over flowing again, and you need to wait in a queue, trying not to gag. There is nothing to worry about regarding this procedure; it is just so they can know who is officially registered where. Whilst this country is a lot ‘freer’ than it may have seemed to Westerners 15 or 20 years ago, you will have to remember that the approach taken by the government over here to maintain control of the population is not how we view ‘best practice’ in the UK. Tough luck, their country, their rules, which, all in all, seems fair, if the roles were reversed, we’d not expect people to complain too excessively about our customs/social rules/laws.
When in the country, you will see some people walking around in army camo fatigues, most of these people are manual labourers, who use them as hard-wearing clothes to work in. If, however, you see a group of 2-6 young men wandering in ‘urban’ colour camos (bluey/purpley), these are some sort of street patrollers. No idea on their legal/military/civilian status, I just make sure I’m not littering/jay-walking when I see them around :>
Then you have the regular police force, who you will see in cars (often using their PA systems as public education systems (‘Drivers! Do not park here’ or ‘Move out the way NOW’)), on foot, or in little kiosks at key strategic civic points.
There is also a (separate?) traffic police force, who occasionally turn off the traffic lights, and get out their little wands to manually direct the traffic. Unless you intend to drive over here (don’t forget to apply for an International Driving License in the UK, if so), you can safely ignore them.
Finally, you’ll occasionally see the Army guys marching round in unison, but they seem to stay off the streets for the majority of the time.
August 8th, 2007 12:56 am
It seems as if Kazakhastan would have very little crime.
August 8th, 2007 1:45 am
In the same way as many other cities, if you use common sense, you can walk around without fear of any crime. However, crime definitely exists, be it theft, bribery or violence. However, if you are careful, there is nothing to worry about 🙂
January 14th, 2009 11:36 am
🙂 Chris m8, your blog is indeed fun to read. Have to agree with ridiculously excessive amount of paperwork on registration n other official procedures of that sort in here (ie kazakhstan). but you know, it’s progressing, slowly & steadily. so hopefully we will switch to “via post UK style” soon! thats what i really enjoyed in GB: everything organised – less Bureaucracy , more effeciency.
although, i was dissappointed wit RoyalMail once. during my studies in London, i tried to apply for provisional driving license. so i had sent my passport (kz) to swansea (to DVLA’s hq) over the post, using premium service (7 quids a post!) and still they somehow managed to lose it!
January 14th, 2009 2:15 pm
Glad you like the post & blog. This post is a little dated now, having been written more than a couple of years ago. Nice to see you found my Kazakhstan 101 page (I really love having the comment referrers plugin installed 🙂 ).
Sorry to hear Royal Mail lost your passport. Compared to a company like CityLink though, they are a lot more reliable normally.
I really wish RK offered dual citizenship, or at least turned an official blind eye to any instances of it. It would certainly make life for me, my Kazakh wife, and our soon to be born child a lot easier…