Visas, flights and travel preparation between Kazakhstan and Israel

Travel in both directions with an ordinary passport

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists visa-free entry for up to 30 days for Israeli citizens holding ordinary national passports. Special passport categories are listed separately. This is the permitted length of a single stay under that category, not permission to live or work in the country without obtaining the appropriate status. 1

For travel in the other direction, the Embassy of Israel in Astana publishes a visa application procedure for short visits, tourism, business trips and other purposes. The Foreign Ministry’s January announcement about a memorandum concerns an intention to conclude an agreement. It does not, by itself, abolish the published visa procedure. 2 3

What was signed in January 2026

On 27 January 2026, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a memorandum of intent to sign an agreement exempting holders of national passports from visas. This is a document preparing a future agreement, not notice that visa-free travel has begun. 3

Diplomatic and service passports

A separate agreement on mutual travel by holders of diplomatic and service passports was signed on 30 June 2009. The treaty record gives 11 May 2010 as its entry-into-force date. It allows stays of up to 90 days within six months of the first entry. These provisions do not apply to ordinary national passports. 4

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry table also distinguishes ordinary, diplomatic and service passports issued by Israel. It lists a stay of up to 90 days for the latter two categories. 1

Where to check visa document requirements

The Embassy of Israel in Astana lists a travel document, information about employment and financial means, accommodation and insurance, and additional documents depending on the purpose of the trip. Visits to relatives and business trips require different supporting documents. Visits to the consular section are by prior appointment. 2

Aviation ties predate Air Astana

Kazakhstan and Israel signed an air services agreement on 30 August 1995. Its annex provided for routes between Almaty and Tel Aviv for designated carriers. The treaty framework and an airline’s actual timetable belong to different parts of the historical record. 5

The agreement does not establish that flights continued uninterrupted in the following decades. A passenger’s personal account can show how a family travelled, but it cannot replace documentation of the launch of a scheduled service.

A family’s account of travel in 1993 and 1994

Boris Belilovsky’s memoir provides a personal account of the journey from Kazakhstan to Israel before today’s flight arrangements. His son Yuri left Kazakhstan with his wife and child on 14 April 1993. According to Boris, there was no direct flight from Alma-Ata at the time, so the family accompanied them to Tashkent, from where they flew to Israel. Boris and his wife left on 20 April 1994. In his notes, he recalled that a direct flight between Alma-Ata and Tel Aviv had appeared by the time of their departure.

This is valuable testimony from a passenger and a family, but it is not an official source for the route’s opening date. It cannot replace aviation records or establish the exact launch date of a scheduled service. It does, however, show how quickly one family’s practical route could change within a single year.

The account appears in Boris Belilovsky’s book «На чужбине. В Израиль» (In a Foreign Land. To Israel) on Yurbor / Orthogrammer. The Aleksin Centralised Library System separately confirms his emigration date, 20 April 1994.

Air Astana launched the route on 7 September 2023

Air Astana’s news archive dates the announcement “Air Astana inaugurates new service to Israel” to 7 September 2023. The release announced flights between Almaty and Tel Aviv twice a week on an Airbus A321LR. These are the historical details of the route’s launch, not a timetable valid for every later date. 6 7

The airline later published a separate announcement suspending subsequent flights. Its own archive therefore provides no basis for describing the service as uninterrupted since launch. Each resumption date and timetable needs separate confirmation. 8

Shymkent–Tel Aviv flights were planned for 2026

On 26 February 2026, the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan published a list of planned new routes. It gave 9 June as the planned date for SCAT’s Shymkent–Tel Aviv route. The announcement concerns plans for the route network. 9

The published sources confirm the plan. They do not report that scheduled flights began on 9 June and are operating now.

Two announcements do not provide a current timetable

Air Astana’s archive records the launch of flights in 2023, while the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan’s list includes a planned SCAT route for 2026. These publications do not confirm a direct-flight timetable for the current date.

A ticket does not confirm that travel is safe

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry has published advice to refrain from travel to Israel until active hostilities cease and the situation fully returns to normal. It also gives personal safety advice to citizens already in the region. 10

In brief