AKIPRESS.COM - The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan has proposed easing citizenship requirements by lowering the minimum score needed on the Kazakh language test. A draft order was published on the government's Legalacts.egov.kz portal.

According to the document, foreign citizens seeking to obtain or restore citizenship would need to score at least 15 points on the Kazakh language exam, down from the previous 36 points. The minimum score on the basics of the Constitution would increase to 20 points from 9, while the minimum score for knowledge of Kazakhstan's history would remain at 15 points.

"The new rules would standardize the number of questions across subjects and reduce the overall passing score by 10%," the Ministry notes.

The public discussion of the draft order will last until July 25.

The current test requirements for obtaining citizenship were approved in October 2024.

The exam, according to the rules developed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, consists of 100 questions. 60 of them are on the Kazakh language (reading and listening), 15 are on the basics of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, 25 are on the history of Kazakhstan. The threshold score for testing must now be at least 60.

The total time provided for testing is 2 hours 10 minutes. For persons with disabilities, an additional 30 minutes are provided.