ASTANA – Kazakhstan granted citizenship to more than 22,000 people last year, reported the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Feb. 20.
Of them, 17,676 applicants were kandas, a term referring to ethnic Kazakhs returning to Kazakhstan. Some 1,287 people from Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia used a simplified registration procedure, and 1,777 acquired the Kazakh citizenship according to the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women.
At least 20,000 people became citizens of Kazakhstan through a simplified procedure.
Every year, around 20,000 people apply for Kazakhstan’s citizenship, with over one million people receiving it in the past 30 years.
Source : The Astana Times
