OREANDA-NEWS.  August 03, 2012. President of the Kyrgyz Republic Almazbek Atambaev signed the Law "On 60-days visa-regime for citizens of some countries".

According to the Department of Information Policy of the President ‘s Office of the KR, the law was passed to simplify procedures in issuing visas to foreign citizens, develop tourism industry and attract more investment to the country.

The introduced unilaterally visa-free regime of the KR proceeds on the basis of Kyrgyz Government initiated and Kyrgyz Parliament adopted respective law of the KR.

Prior to that visa-free regime was introduced unilaterally by the Kyrgyz Government in 2001 for citizens of Japan, as well as for holders of diplomatic passports from 13 countries - members of the WTO and the Schengen Agreement.

According to the Government substantiation, the list of countries whose citizens are unilaterally introduced with visa-free regime was formed on the basis of country GDP per capita being over seven thousand U.S. dollars.

Article 3 of the Law states its duration being "until December 31, 2020 and in case of achieving the objectives of the law, it will be introduced on permanent basis".

The Government is instructed to consider introduction of compulsory health insurance for all foreign nationals during their stay in the KR and intensify efforts directed to implementation of automated border control systems in all border crossing points.

List of countries whose citizens are unilaterally introduced with visa-free regime up to 60 days:
1. Commonwealth of Australia
2. Republic of Austria
3. Kingdom of Belgium
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina
5. Vatican
6. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
7. Hungary
8. German Federal Republic
9. Kingdom of the Netherlands
10. Hellenic Republic
11. Kingdom of Denmark
12. Iceland
13. Kingdom of Ireland
14. Kingdom of Spain
15. Italian Republic
16. Canada
17. Republic of Korea
18. State of Kuwait
19. Republic of Latvia
20. Republic of Lithuania
21. Principality of Liechtenstein
22. Republic of Malta
23. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
24. Principality of Monaco
25. New Zealand
26. Kingdom of Norway
27. United Arab Emirates
28. Republic of Poland
29. Portuguese Republic
30. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
31. Republic of Singapore
32. Slovak Republic
33. Republic of Slovenia
34. United States of America
35. Republic of Finland
36. Republic of France
37. Republic of Croatia
38. Czech Republic
39. Swiss Confederation
40. Kingdom of Sweden
41. Republic of Estonia
42. State of Qatar
43. State of Brunei Darussalam
44. Kingdom of Bahrain