Photo: ru.freepik.com
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education has proposed lowering the required proficiency level in the state language for those applying for or restoring Kazakhstani citizenship. The draft order has been published for public comment on the “Open NPA” regulatory website.
The proposal would reduce the minimum passing score on the Kazakh language test from 36 to 15 points. At the same time, the required score for the “Fundamentals of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan” section would increase from 9 to 20 points. The minimum score for Kazakh history would remain unchanged at 15 points.
“The adoption of this draft will ensure a more balanced distribution of questions across all citizenship testing subjects and lower the overall threshold by 10%,” the ministry stated.
The public discussion period will run through July 25.
The current citizenship testing standards, which assess knowledge of the Kazakh language and national history, were introduced in October 2024.
According to the testing rules developed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions: 60 on Kazakh language (reading and listening comprehension), 15 on the Constitution, and 25 on national history. The current minimum passing score is 60.
Test takers are given 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete the exam. Individuals with disabilities are granted an additional 30 minutes.
In the spring of last year, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law amending several legislative acts related to migration and the penal system. It specified that insufficient knowledge of the Kazakh language, the Constitution, or national history could be grounds for denying a citizenship application or reinstatement.
At the time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the new standards were designed to help foreigners integrate more easily into Kazakhstani society.
