Crackdown on Fake Registrations: Almaty Introduces New Residential Space Limits for Residency Registration

Almaty authorities have officially overhauled the regulations governing permanent and temporary residency registration across the city. Moving forward, registration approvals will strictly factor in property size, mandating a minimum of 15 square meters of total housing area per registered individual.

Designed to curb "phantom address" practices where dozens of individuals register under a single address, the updated standard aims to deliver a far more precise picture of the city’s actual demographic footprint. Officials clarified that the 15-square-meter requirement is purely a administrative benchmark for registration purposes - not a mandate forcing property owners to grant individual living space of that size to every occupant.

Crucially, these space restrictions do not apply to immediate family members and close relatives of the property owner. Homeowners retain full rights to register a spouse, children, extended family members, as well as official dependents, wards, or individuals under guardianship, regardless of the square footage limit.

Presented by Bauyrzhan Zhaubasov, Head of the Almaty Department of Employment and Social Programs, the initiative secured unanimous approval from the city maslikhat (city council). Local officials emphasized that streamlined registration data is critical for accurately planning urban infrastructure loads, including school capacity, healthcare access, and municipal utility demands across each district.

The Almaty Maslikhat gained legal authorization to establish this threshold under recent amendments to the Law "On the Special Status of Almaty," which took effect on September 14, 2026. The new regulation is expected to drastically curb fraudulent registration schemes while elevating the overall reliability of the city’s population analytics.