Astana Hub registration: eligibility, documents and application support
Astana Hub registration starts with checking your project and preparing its supporting documents. If you are building an IT business in Kazakhstan, identify the relevant priority activity and explain how the company earns revenue before applying. This guide covers participation, the business plan, application stages and tax questions.
Discuss Astana Hub registration
What Astana Hub registration means
Joining the technology park is a separate process from incorporating a legal entity. For an existing company, the first task is to assess eligibility. If no company exists yet, its ownership and operating structure should be planned together with the intended participation application.
Astana Hub participation does not itself provide an AFSA licence for financial services. A payment, investment or digital-asset product therefore needs a separate regulatory assessment. The same project may raise both technology-park and financial-authorisation questions, but the answers are not interchangeable.
Who should consider participation?
Participation may be relevant to businesses creating technology products or providing qualifying IT services. Calling a business a startup or SaaS provider is not enough: its actual activities, contracts and revenue must be assessed against the applicable priority-activities list.
The published procedure dated 26 February 2026 defines the applicant as a Kazakhstan-resident legal entity. Restrictions include branches at the application stage, certain state ownership and other eligibility conditions. Review the complete criteria rather than relying on a short overview. Source: registration procedure, chapter 2.
Astana Hub states that participation follows an extraterritorial principle: a company may operate in Astana, Almaty or another Kazakhstan city. Official registration information.
Questions to resolve before applying
- What does the company create, and what result does the customer pay for?
- Which entity signs contracts, invoices customers and receives revenue?
- Who owns the software and other development results?
- Does the company combine qualifying technology work with other activities?
- Are the project description, contracts and financial projections consistent?
For example, a company developing software while reselling equipment needs to examine both revenue streams. Changing a phrase in the business plan does not change the substance of its transactions.
The 19 priority activities for Astana Hub
The list approved by Order No. 521/НҚ of 20 October 2025, effective from 1 January 2026, contains 19 priority ICT activities. The following headings are abbreviated; the full wording and restrictions govern the assessment.
- Software and software products.
- Information systems, excluding those of government bodies.
- Data processing.
- ICT research and experimental development.
- Microelectronics, optoelectronics, nanoelectronics and microelectromechanics.
- Robotics.
- Radar, radionavigation, radiocommunications and related technologies.
- ICT equipment, telecommunications and biometrics.
- Information security.
- Cloud computing.
- Blockchain solutions.
- Unmanned transport control and related systems.
- Artificial intelligence.
- Online marketplaces using software owned by the participant.
- Internet of Things.
- Video games.
- Training in the specified ICT fields.
- Virtual and augmented reality.
- Computing infrastructure and data processing, subject to the stated digital-mining exclusion.
Official order and complete list. These English headings are explanatory translations, not an official translation of the legal instrument.
Tax benefits require a separate assessment
Astana Hub describes tax preferences for participants. Their application depends on the tax, income and reporting period concerned. Intellectual-property income also raises questions about ownership and the applicable calculation rules. Official participation and tax information.
Instead of assuming that every tax becomes zero, map the company’s transactions: bespoke development, subscriptions, licences, support, training and other services. Identify the legal basis and supporting records for each category. A useful comparison is an ordinary tax budget against a participation budget including applicable benefits and compliance costs.
Astana Hub registration: application stages
- Check eligibility. Review the project, restrictions and revenue model.
- Prepare the application. Assemble the business plan and supporting information.
- Submit electronically. Complete the portal fields and reconcile the figures.
- Respond to comments. Monitor the account and address requests for clarification.
- Complete participation formalities. Following a positive decision, complete the required agreement and certificate steps.
The 2026 procedure provides for up to 15 working days for consideration and a decision: up to five days for the Fund’s review and up to ten for the commission. Time allowed to remedy comments is excluded. This is not a promise that the entire project will finish within 15 days of contacting an adviser. Source: chapter 3, paragraph 9.
Documents for Astana Hub registration
The published document list includes a business plan, tax-debt information and information about the company’s location. Check the current requirements for the amount of debt and the age of the supporting information immediately before submission. Official documents section.
For an initial consultation, prepare the following working materials. This checklist does not replace the official application requirements:
- Company registration and ownership details.
- A product description and demonstration link, where available.
- Sample customer and developer contracts with unnecessary personal data removed.
- Records of rights in code, design, databases and other development results.
- Revenue and cost forecasts with explained assumptions.
- Details of the team and operating location.
Preparing a clear business plan
The official guidance distinguishes product and service models. Describe the solution, target market, technical architecture, team, revenue model, expenditure and development plan. Where several projects are included, cover each one. Official application guidance in Russian.
A reader should understand what will be delivered, who will buy it, why the team can deliver and how revenue is calculated. A promotional presentation without evidence or calculations does not provide that explanation.
After obtaining participant status
The official participation page refers to reporting, contractual obligations and membership contributions. Verify the amount, calculation basis and due dates under the current agreement. Appoint responsible staff, keep a compliance calendar and retain evidence of project delivery. Review changes to the product, ownership or revenue model before implementing them.
Astana Hub registration costs and legal support
Legal fees depend on the company, project and document readiness. Agree separately on eligibility analysis, business-plan work, contract and tax review, responses to comments and post-registration support.
The overall budget may also include accounting, intellectual-property documentation, translations and participant obligations. Separate adviser fees from other payments. The scope, price and service timetable should be recorded in the proposal and engagement agreement.
Issues to check before Astana Hub registration
- Contracts describe a different service from the application.
- The company receives product revenue but the rights belong to another person or entity.
- Projected revenue is not supported by pricing and customer assumptions.
- The tax budget ignores particular income categories or ongoing obligations.
- The team assumes participation authorises financial services.
The preliminary review should identify what is satisfied, what needs correction and what needs official clarification. The competent commission makes the registration decision; approval cannot be guaranteed.
Astana Hub, the AIFC or FinTech Lab?
For a technology business, start with technology-park eligibility. To establish an entity in the AIFC, review AIFC company registration. For regulated financial services, assess the authorisation route separately. One project can involve several of these questions.
Frequently asked questions
Can we seek advice before incorporating?
Yes. Start with the intended ownership and operating structure, then plan the application around the applicant requirements.
Must an Almaty company move to Astana?
The city alone does not determine eligibility. The company’s address and lawful use of its premises still need proper documentation.
Is selecting an IT activity code enough?
No single code explains the actual business. Review the product, work, contracts and revenue together.
When can we rely on projected tax savings?
After the relevant rules and actual transactions have been assessed. A participant certificate does not replace a tax analysis.
Can the company submit its own application?
The official procedure provides for an electronic application. The need for legal support depends on the complexity and readiness of the project.
Discuss your project with Benefits & Partners
Tell us what your company does, where it is registered, whether it owns a product and which markets it plans to serve. A general description is sufficient for the first message. Do not send signing keys, bank passwords or unnecessary identity documents. Projects in Astana and Almaty can start with a remote discussion.
WhatsApp Business: +7 (707) 350 92 75 · Additional phone: +7 (705) 292 90 99 · Contacts
This is general information. The applicable participation and tax rules depend on the project. Sources checked on 19 October 2026.