Almaty has introduced a new standard for registering citizens at their place of residence and temporary stay: residency registration will now take housing area into account — at least 15 square meters of total floor space per person, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to NUR.KZ, citing the city akimat, the decision on the new standard was announced at a maslikhat session by Bauyrzhan Zhaubasov, head of the department of employment and social programs.
"The new procedure is being introduced to limit cases where a large number of people are registered at a single address and to make data on the actual population more accurate," the akimat said.
It is specified that the 15 sq. m standard does not mean that each person must be provided with separate housing of that size. It is only a calculation indicator that will be applied during registration.
At the same time, the restriction does not apply to family members and close relatives of the property owner. Beyond the established standard, it will be possible to register a spouse, children and their family members, close relatives, as well as persons who are dependents or under guardianship or trusteeship.
"The new standard will make registration records more orderly and provide a more accurate understanding of how many people actually live in each district. This is important for planning the load on schools, clinics, utilities and other city infrastructure," Bauyrzhan Zhaubasov added.
The Almaty maslikhat received the right to establish such a standard after amendments to the law "On the Special Status of the City of Almaty" came into force on September 14, 2026.