Published
06/09/2025, 14:14Since the launch of the “Meken Kart” project in March 2023, 313 citizens who previously held Kyrgyz citizenship have been granted compatriot status. A total of 361 applications were submitted, of which 9 were rejected. The project, implemented by the Ministry of Labor, Social Security, and Migration in cooperation with the state-owned enterprise Infokom, enables ethnic Kyrgyz and their descendants to return to the country on special terms.
Applications for the card are submitted through an automated information system accessible both in Kyrgyzstan and abroad through foreign missions. The card is valid for 10 years, and applications are considered within three months under the standard procedure and within 1.5 months under the expedited procedure.
Those eligible to apply are people from Kyrgyzstan, their kids, and grandkids, except for citizens of neighboring countries.
The Meken Kart offers a bunch of perks: visa-free entry and exit, the right to live without a residence permit, access to education and healthcare, the chance to get a job, and rent farmland for 10 years.
As of May 1, 2025, most applications were submitted from Russia — 217, of which 190 were approved. Next are Germany (62 applications, 51 approved) and Turkmenistan (28 and 22, respectively). Applications were also received from the US, Turkey, Korea, Austria, Ukraine, and other countries. The Ministry of Labor emphasizes that the program continues to develop and aims to strengthen ties with the Kyrgyz diaspora abroad.
