Renting and buying a home in Almaty for citizens of Turkmenistan

What visa does a citizen of Turkmenistan need to study and live in Almaty?

There's no visa-free entry. A 2001 agreement provided for free entry, but Turkmenistan suspended it in 2016, and since then citizens of both countries travel on visas. In May 2025 Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said it was preparing amendments and waiting for proposals from Ashgabat, but there's no decision yet.

A student visa is issued on the university's invitation, and the university, as the host, usually handles registration at the place of residence. Parents who want to visit their child or view apartments need a separate visa. Check its type and duration with the Kazakh embassy in Ashgabat before you travel.

Why there are so many students from Turkmenistan in Almaty

Their number grew 2.3 times in a single academic year. Applying has become easier: documents can be submitted remotely through the Study in Kazakhstan platform, and some programmes are taught in Russian and English. Engineering, IT, economics, international relations and medicine are popular.

For a real estate specialist this means one thing: in August and September demand for rentals near Almaty's universities jumps, and good apartments near KazNU or the medical university go within a few days. I advise starting the search in June or July, as soon as the invitation arrives.

How a student from Turkmenistan can rent an apartment in Almaty

Not every university has a dormitory, and there often aren't enough places. Many students share an apartment between two or three people. In that case it's better to sign the lease in one person's name or a parent's, and spell out who else lives there, who pays the utilities and how the deposit is split if someone moves out.

I check that the apartment is let by the owner, look at the route to the university on foot and by public transport, and record the apartment's condition on video at move-in. That protects the deposit when you move out, and for students the deposit is the most common reason for disputes with landlords.

Buying an apartment for the years of study: when it pays off for parents

A bachelor's degree takes four years, medicine longer. Over that time rent adds up to a serious sum, and parents ask whether it would be simpler to buy. I calculate both options honestly: rent for the full period against buying with property tax, utility bills and the costs of selling at the end.

The difficulty is the paperwork. A student visa doesn't give a residence permit, so an apartment can't be registered to the student or a foreign parent as an individual. That leaves an LLP (limited liability partnership, locally TOO), and a company has its own bookkeeping and taxes. If the family has a relative with Kazakh citizenship, the situation is different, but then that relative is the owner, and this needs careful thought in advance.

How to pay for a rental or purchase from Turkmenistan

This is the main practical question. Buying foreign currency in Turkmenistan is restricted: exchange goes through the interbank exchange, and limits for individuals have been introduced in different years. So raising and transferring a large sum for a purchase is harder than from neighbouring countries. Check how it works for you now with your bank before you start looking.

In Kazakhstan it's best to receive the money into your own account at a local bank, which is opened in person after you get an IIN (individual identification number) at a TsON public service centre. Currency control for individuals starts at $10,000, and the bank will ask where the funds came from. I don't advise bringing cash and paying the seller with it: in a dispute you'll have no proof of payment.

Which Almaty districts are convenient for students

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU) is next to the Botanical Garden, and there are many apartments around it let to students. Asfendiyarov Medical University, KBTU and Satbayev University are closer to the centre, where the Golden Square and streets near metro stations are more convenient.

For a family moving together, I look at the new blocks west of Gagarin Avenue: cheaper than the centre, with schools and kindergartens. In older buildings in the centre I always check the year of construction and condition: Almaty sits in a seismic zone rated 9–10 points.

Common mistakes students make when renting

• Paying a deposit based on photos without seeing the apartment and the landlord's documents
• Renting without a lease, or with a lease in the name of someone who doesn't live in the apartment
• Putting off the search until late August, when almost nothing is left near the universities
• Not recording the apartment's condition at move-in and then losing the deposit
• Planning to buy an apartment in the student's name without a residence permit

How I work with families from Turkmenistan

I speak Russian, Kazakh and English. Most students from Turkmenistan speak Russian well, and with parents we bring in an interpreter if needed. While the student is still at home, I send videos of apartments near their university and check the landlord's documents.

Accompaniment is a paid service, and we fix its scope in advance. For students it's usually finding a rental and checking the lease; for families who are moving or buying, it's the full cycle up to the deal and liaising with lawyers on the IIN, bank and LLP. My commission on a purchase starts at 1%.