If your family is looking at moving to Kazakhstan, then congratulations! The country will give you a true adventure, at an affordable price point. I moved to Kazakhstan in 2021 and stayed there for four years with my young family. We had such a great time living in Almaty: it’s a vibrant and modern city with great cafes and restaurants. I’d love to share our experience via this guide for expat families moving to Kazakhstan!
Most expats moving to Kazakhstan are going to be living in one of the two biggest cities, Astana or Almaty. Since becoming the capital in 1997, Astana is now the usual destination for the diplomatic folks, particularly if you’ll be working for an embassy. Business people, on the other hand, are probably more likely to end up in the former capital, Almaty. It’s worth noting that traffic can be an issue in both cities, especially at peak hour, and Almaty has some pollution challenges in winter too. In saying this, I do think Almaty is still the best destination, though Astana can be a very comfortable place to live. And it’s only a short flight between the cities so you can always flit between them on the weekends!
My experience is on moving to Almaty, but I’ve also included some useful stuff for those moving to Astana. Read on to find out my top tips for moving to Kazakhstan as an expat family.
Schools & Education
First up in this guide for expat families is the choice of schools in Kazakhstan. There are several international schools in the Almaty region, coming in a range of costs and values. Unless you are a Russian speaker, I would not recommend using local state schools, or any private schools with Russian as their language of education. It would be a rather large challenge to communicate with the school, and, at least for primary or secondary, you will need to be able talk to the staff.
Early years is a different kettle of fish. We did use a bilingual (Russian and English) private kindergarten. This gave our kids a solid start in speaking Russian, while allowing us, as English speakers, to still be able to talk with the admin and teachers at the school. As our kids moved into primary school, their Russian skills proved useful as the language is a required subject in all schools in Kazakhstan.
Kindergarten
We chose our kindergarten as it was bilingual, and also close to our house. The distance was important for our initial start to living in Almaty, given the traffic. Spending a lot of time on the road twice a day did not sound like something we wanted to do! The kindergarten was a Montessori centre with lovely staff and a large outdoor playground. It helped that it was up the hill in Medeu district and so sat above the city smog.
There are many other great kindergarten centres that cater to international families in Almaty. Since Astana became the capital and a centre for the international diplomatic community, there is also likely a large number of kindergartens catering to them too.
Primary & Secondary School
When we looked at primary schools, my priorities remained finding one not too far from us and also one with an English language stream. Living in Medeu area, in the south eastern corner of the city, allowed us to strike several off the list. Some schools like Almaty International School (AIS) and Miras were more than a 20min drive from us even without traffic. We then did tours of Kazakhstan International School (KIS) and Haileybury. We ultimately chose KIS because more of our friends went there. However, my daughter was quite annoyed that we didn’t choose Haileybury as it does have a pool!
Some new international schools will be opening up in 2026 in Almaty, including a French school and a British one. From the looks of things, Charterhouse Almaty (the British one) is out towards AIS. The French one, Lycée International Francais d’Almaty is downtown towards Paulaner Brewery. New expat families moving to Almaty will definitely have options!
Once my daughter was old enough, she was allowed to catch the school bus, which made life easier for us. And even though it was a long transit, being an hour door to door, she loved being on the bus with her friends!
Astana has sister schools to several of the international schools in Almaty, including KIS and Haileybury. As I mentioned, traffic is just as much a hassle in Astana, so do consider the distance between your home and the school of your choice.
Cost of Living
Kazakhstan in general is very affordable compared to other international centres. It does have high inflation and when you speak to those who live there they will tell you how expensive things are getting, especially in a big city like Almaty! However, as a new arrival you may find that the prices are in fact much lower than what you’re used to. Read on to find out my guide to living costs for expat families in Kazakhstan.
Housing
We arrived in 2021 with a three year old and a one year old, and, knowing that we wouldn’t be paying big school fees for a while, we were able to allocate a bigger portion of my husband’s salary to our housing budget. This got us a large house in Medeu. It was right on the beautiful Terrenkur river path, a 15 minute walk to Dostyk Plaza. A house with a garden was important to us. It was in the midst of Covid and lock downs were still a possibility as we arrived. We didn’t fancy being stuck in an apartment with two small kids if any more occurred!
We downsized our house once our daughter started going to an international school. This was quite an effective strategy when it came to balancing our budget! Our new house was still quite grand and beautiful. If I remember correctly there were chandeliers in every room. Including the laundry.
Transport
Cars
We purchased a car in our second year. You don’t really need a car in the cities, as the taxis and public transport are actually pretty good. However, if you want to head outside the city, to go camping or visit the ski resorts, a car is pretty useful. My recommendation is to find an agent who can help you find and check the car. They can also help you if you need it serviced, or have any accidents.
Its a good idea to get a proper 4WD that can handle the pot holes and the ice. A Toyota will serve you well, and spare parts are easy to come by. Note that cars here have heavy import duties which goes some way to explain why they hold their value so well. We paid so much more for a 20 year old Toyota Prado than we would have back in Australia. However, when we sold it three years later, we made most of our money back on it.
Fuel is relatively cheap so it was often best for me to drive rather than take taxis.
Taxis
Taxis are still relatively affordable. A Yandex, which is the uber equivalent in Kazakhstan, from Almaty airport into the city will set you back about 4,000T which is about 8USD. Please do consider Yandex’s Comfort or Comfort Plus class when booking a taxi. These cars are more likely to have working seatbelts.
Buses
Buses are very cheap, but they can be rather busy. If you’re keen to try this mode of transport, get yourself an ONAY card from a Caravan kiosk (there’s one on the corner of Dostyk Ave and Shevchenko St in Almaty), or get the ONAY app (link below).
Schooling
Schooling is one of the biggest costs for expat families. If your company can provide a stipend to cover at least some education costs then this is a good thing. The local private kindergarten we used was quite good value at about 500USD per month.
International schools are, however, rather expensive. KIS Almaty started at Grade 1 at about 20,000USD all in. Haileybury was similar.
Childcare
When we first arrived in 2021, we hired a lovely young woman to be our nanny, and her weekly wage was about 100USD. She was also our evening babysitter while she was employed by us – we added any of these hours onto her contract hours and paid her extra according to her hourly rate. We later hired one of the teachers at our kindergarten to be a babysitter. For two kids, rates may vary, however you should be able to get a good babysitter for around 3,000-4,000KZT/hour (~6-8USD/hour) in 2026. You can expect to spend more if the sitter speaks English well. It’s expected that you will pay for your babysitter’s Yandex home at the end of the night.
Food & Drink
Groceries are definitely cheaper in Kazakhstan, at least for common fresh produce. Most of our grocery shopping was done at Magnum and Galmart. We also frequently used an online supermarket called Arbuz as it was very convenient and had really great delivery drivers. We naturally did do a a bit of shopping at the iconic Green Bazaar. Galmart was generally the most expensive, however, it did have great quality fresh produce (and it sold clean potatoes and carrots!). I did a quick price comparison between Australia and Kazakhstan for a staple vegetable, the potato. I checked Galmart’s website and a three kilogram bag of Kazakhstan potatoes was about 1,100KZT (about 2USD), whereas a one kilogram bag of Australian potatoes in Woolworths was 8AUD (~5USD).
Wine, beer and spirits was freely accessible at all supermarkets. Wine was generally more expensive here than I’ve seen it in Australia, but it did depend on the wine and where it came from. Beer was affordable too though imported beer such as Corona or Heineken was a little pricey.
A good dinner at a nice restaurant got more expensive over the time we were there, however, it’s still good value compared to Australia.
Activities
You’ll definitely notice the difference in costs if you’re into snow sports. At the country’s top ski resorts, you will be spending about 40USD for a day lift pass. Ski hire isn’t expensive and you can find English speaking instructors at the main resorts.
Healthcare
Read on to find out my guide for expat families navigating the healthcare system in Kazakhstan.
Medical Clinics
Almaty has a network of public clinics and hospitals, which do the job of treating people and it is pretty effective. This does not mean they are easy to navigate for non-russian speakers. If you are moving to Almaty you will want to find a good international medical clinic as your family GP. They will provide you good frontline care and be able to explain next steps if you need to attend one of the local hospitals or specialist clinics. We tried a few places while we lived there.
- International Medical Centre (IMC) was very good and follows a very western approach to family medicine. They only have an Almaty clinic as far as I can tell.
- International SOS offers a comprehensive package of medical care as part of a membership subscription. They have their own ambulance if you or your family need to be taken to one of the city’s hospitals for more urgent care. They have centres in both Almaty and Astana.
- American Medical Centre (AMC) is a good clinic though seem to be a bit more focussed on the business side – I definitely got an upselling vibe from them when I attended. They have clinics in both Almaty and Astana.
If your Russian is rudimentary but you are quick with Google Translate, you might like to try Orhun Clinic, there’s quite a few of them around Almaty and they do a decent job. We followed an excellent paediatric GP to his new job at Orhun after he left a now (sadly!) defunct Turkish hospital, and then stayed with them for a while longer after he left. Orhun has clinics across the country but not in Astana according to their website.
Dentists
The places I tried in Almaty included Dr Vovk, Kids Smile, and White Story. Kids Smile is a children’s only dentist and they were very good. They were across the road from International SOS medical clinic. White Story was an adults clinic above Siam Spa, next to the German Consulate. I was quite happy with them and had a clean and scale several times there. It helped they were only 15min drive away. Dr Vovk was also very nice though a bit pricier, and a bit farther across town for me.
Pharmacies
Pharmacies are in every shopping mall, and on many street corners too. There are plenty of 24 hour pharmacies too, just check your 2GIS map (see Daily Life Tips section below).
Physiotherapy
From what I could tell, there wasn’t a whole lot of physiotherapy being offered in Almaty. The one place that I visited (along with half the city) was ReActive International and I was very happy with their service.
Daily Life Tips
What guide would this be if I didn’t include some tips for expat families on how to live life well in Kazakhstan?
Apps
Download the following essential apps:
- Yandex (IOS and Google) is the uber equivalent for Kazakhstan. It also has a courier service which is very reliable.
- WhatsApp (IOS and Google) is a messaging app used by everyone in Kazakhstan. So much is done with WhatsApp here.
- 2GIS (IOS and Google) is the mapping app that is superior to Google Maps in Kazakhstan
Download the following desirable apps:
- Arbuz (IOS and Google) is a great grocery app with a fantastic delivery service (the delivery people are super nice).
- ONAY (IOS and Google) the bus app, though you can buy a physical card from any Caravan shop in the cities.
- Wolt (IOS and Google) is a grocery and restaurant delivery service with an English interface. There is another similar app called Glovo but last time I check it didn’t have English as one of its languages.
- Next (IOS and Google)is an online fashion and homewares shop based in the UK with great delivery options for Kazakhstan. I ordered my daughter’s first school backpack from here and it arrived within a week.
Groceries
While you can find most things in the shops here, there are some groceries that are a bit harder to find so you may prefer to bring it in yourself. For lovers of strong English breakfast tea, you are better bringing it in yourself from abroad, as the tea here is rather mild. You can find cheeses that are similar to parmesan in Galmart, but if you are quite particular, you might want to bring your own in. There is no cheddar to speak of. If you find a cheese claiming to be cheddar it is blatantly lying to you.
Alternative milks are found in abundance in the cities. You can buy any version of plant-based milk in the supermarkets, and most cafes carry an assortment of options too.
It is very likely that you will buy extremely dirty potatoes and carrots at some point. Probably most of the times you buy them. Accept that this is the reason they are so cheap.
Banking
Get your Individual Identification Number (IIN) organised quickly. Your company may arrange this or you may need to ask a russian speaking friend to come with you to the government office. Consider also registering with Kaspi (a sort of ‘challenger’ bank), as well as with a traditional bank, such as Halyk (considered one of the most stable banks in Kazakhstan) or Bank Center Credit (has nicer customer service).
You can’t have a joint bank account with your spouse here, which is a fun quirk of living in Kazakhstan.
Dress for the weather
In winter, cover up your children, if not the babushkas (grandmothers) will have something to say. It is well meant, so try not to take it too much to heart. If you’re in Astana in winter then you’ll need a hard-working padded coat that keeps out the bitter cold and the strong wind. Almaty experiences less extreme cold weather but we still had one or two cold snaps per winter – you should still invest in a good padded coat. Also please do make sure you have boots with heavy tread to avoid slipping on the ice.
Summers are hot, more so in Astana than Almaty. Most expat families travel to their home countries for the summer so you may not end up experiencing much of the warm weather. However, if you stay then make sure you have appropriate warm weather attire and make use of whichever water parks and public swimming pools you have access to.
Learn some phrases in Russian and Kazakh
It goes without saying that it’s helpful for expats to have some basics of the language of their current country. Kazakhstan has both Russian and Kazakh languages. As a guide for expat families, the following should be a priority for you in Kazakhstan.
Say hello to the driver of your Yandex taxi. If the driver is caucasian, then go with the russian, “zdrahst-voy-tyeah”. You may impress a Kazakh driver with a “salem”, which is… well, Kazakh.
Also at the end of the trip, you can say thanks: “spah-see-bah” to a causasian driver, or “rahk-met” to a Kazakh driver.
If that’s all a bit much, start with the Russian phrases as pretty much everyone speaks it. You can always level up your language game later.
Prepare a Go Bag
We had a run of earthquakes in 2024, none of which were particularly dangerous but the tremors could be felt in the houses and apartments. It’s worthwhile having a Go Bag ready near your home entrance to grab if you do feel the need to get outside. We had things like water, snacks and warm winter hats in ours.
Cultural Insights
Just like anywhere, life is much easier when you are aware of local cultural quirks. Here are a selection of things that I believe are useful and can guide an expat family when navigating Kazakhstan.
Food
Make sure you try horse meat at least once, and then ensure you bring every one of your international visitors to a restaurant that serves beshbarmak (a very good traditional dish, usually featuring horse). Make sure you have also tried other regional specialities, including Kefir, Kurt, and shashlik.
Holidays
On International Women’s Day don’t forget to congratulate all the women in your family, including the little girls, and those at your workplace. Flowers and chocolates are frequently gifted and will be expected. You will be popular at work if you give such gifts to your female colleagues. Sometimes a day dedicated to boys will happen, usually on one of the military holidays, but this seems to be less common.
New Years Eve is the BIG holiday of the year, celebrated by everyone. If you have kids then find another family who is keen to host dinner and go round to theirs. Friends with houses that have extra bedrooms to put small kids down in are especially good to have at this time. At midnight you can set off some fireworks, or just watch the night sky as all your neighbours set off theirs. Fireworks are super easy to get hold of. Yandex taxis still operate all night so you won’t be stuck finding a ride home.
Expat communities will likely organise events around the holidays they celebrate. One of the first such events was an Easter Brunch at the Intercontinental Hotel Almaty co-hosted by the Almaty International Women’s Club (AIWC). They also co-host a yearly tree lighting ceremony and Christmas brunch. Brunch events at the Intercontinental are a lot of fun so do get along to one!
Religion
Friday prayers are particularly busy at the local mosques. Keep this in mind if you live near one and need to be anywhere at lunchtime or early evening on a Friday. Unless they have good traffic control the parking situation can get a little tough.
Orthodox Christianity still has a presence in Almaty. Orthodox Easter is a big holiday, so go on down to Panfilov Park to watch the faithful attend Easter Mass at Ascension Cathedral.
Language
Russian is the most widely spoken language here, and expat families will do well to learn a bit of the language. You will also find Kazakh is more and more widely spoken. This is particularly amongst the Kazakhs themselves, one of many ethnic groups of the country. It goes a long way for Kazakhs, particularly those who have moved to the big cities from the south, if you try a few words of Kazakh with them.
In conclusion
I hope this guide has been useful in your planning for a possible move with your expat family to Kazakhstan. With a little bit of preparation I know you’ll have a successful time there.
My final tip is to contact the Almaty International Women’s Club, the most well organised international group in the country. I stand by this even if you move somewhere other than Almaty in Kazakhstan. They are a wealth of useful information, experience and local knowledge, with many local Kazakhstani members from regions all over the country. You will find many a sympathetic ear amongst this group, and sometimes this is exactly what you need to get through one of life’s challenges. And anyone who has ever moved anywhere new knows that challenging things will happen, in among all the spectacular things.
What do I know about Kazakhstan?
I lived here from 2021 to 2025 with my family and we had an absolute ball. Visit my About Me page to understand more about my perspective.
Check out my other posts:
- The Complete Guide for a Family Trip to Kazakhstan
- Five days in Almaty: How to maximise your stay in this glittering city
- How to get the most out your visit to Arasan
- What to see when you visit Almaty’s Panfilov Park
- The best places for beginners to try horse meat
- Visiting Kok Tobe: What to expect and how to have a great time
- Fly to Almaty from Perth: A review of the new Air Asia route
- The best things to do in Almaty with little kids
- The best time of year to visit Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Almaty’s Green Bazaar: Planning a great visit there
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