DUSHANBE, April 16, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Kazakhstan has changed registration rules for nationals of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Mr. Kanat Zhumakahnov, the head of the consular service of the Kazakh Embassy in Dushanbe told Asia-Plus Thursday afternoon that Kazakhstan has changed stay procedures for citizens of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

According to him, by a joint order of Kazakhstan’s Committee for National Security, Interior Ministry and MFA of April 13 changes were made to the rules of registration of foreign citizens.

The new registration rules came into effect on April 13 and under the new registration rules, citizens of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan must register within five days of their arrival in Kazakhstan, while before that, Tajik nationals might stay in Kazakhstan up to 30 days without registration and Kyrgyz nationals might stay in Kazakhstan up to 90 days without registration.

In the meantime, Russia’s news agency RIA Novosti reports the Kazakh MFA spokesman Askar Abdrakhmanov said that making changes to the registration rules was not connected with events in Kyrgyzstan.  Kazakh official noted that changes to the registration rules had been made in connection with the formation of the Customs Union between Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, RIA Novosti reported.