Destinations · Kazakhstan

A quieter MBBS option, with English-medium seats and fees set in tenge

Kazakhstan’s state medical universities teach General Medicine in English, charge fees well below Indian private colleges, and are a short flight from Delhi. Winters are hard and the student visa does not allow work. The degree counts in India only after you pass the FMGE, and about three in ten Kazakhstan-trained candidates passed it in December 2025. It is a sensible choice for a disciplined student with a direct admission.

September Medicine route Last checked: November 2026

The facts, as of November 2026

Intakes: September
English: Universities such as Semey Medical University admit foreign students to English-medium General Medicine after an interview in English on biology and chemistry, and they also look at your Class 12 English marks. No IELTS is needed. Check per university.
Tuition: USD 4,000 to 6,700 per yearEstimate as of November 2026, quoted in US dollars because that is how most universities price foreign students. Astana Medical University’s official 2026-27 price list is KZT 3,000,000 a year for the English-medium General Medicine track for foreign citizens, about USD 6,600 at early November 2026 rates. Other state universities quote lower dollar fees, but we could only see those figures through agents, so treat the low end as unconfirmed until you hold the university’s own price list.
Living: USD 2,000 to 3,500 per yearEstimate as of November 2026. There is no official living-cost figure. Universities bill hostels separately, and food and transport are cheap outside Almaty and Astana. Budget extra for winter clothing and the yearly visa renewal.
Work during study: None. Kazakh universities state that C9 student visa holders are not allowed to carry out labour activities in Kazakhstan, so plan to cover the full cost from home (university immigration guidance, as of November 2026).
After you graduate: There is no post-study work route; a job would need an employer to arrange a work permit. Almost every Indian graduate returns to sit the FMGE and complete a 12-month supervised internship in India (NMC, as of November 2026).

C9 education visa

•Applied for at the Embassy of Kazakhstan in New Delhi with a visa support (invitation) approved by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, the university admission letter, and a passport valid at least three months beyond the visa.
•Consular fees on Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs pages, as of November 2026: USD 80 single entry (up to 90 days) or USD 200 multiple entry (up to one year). Confirm the New Delhi rate before you pay.
•The visa is renewed every year through the university, and you must not enter Kazakhstan before the visa start date.
•A C9 visa does not permit paid work.

Official visa page

Medicine: read this first

India’s NMC Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 require a course of at least 54 months taught in English, a 12-month internship at the same foreign university, registration with that country’s medical regulator, and then the FMGE (or NExT once it replaces it) followed by a 12-month supervised internship in India. As of November 2026 the FMGE is still the test, and in the December 2025 sitting 1,072 of 3,655 Kazakhstan-trained candidates passed (29.3 per cent). The NMC’s latest country warning, dated 1 April 2026, concerns neighbouring Uzbekistan and names Tashkent State Medical University among institutions admitting beyond capacity; the Indian Embassy in Tashkent later said it is a caution, not a ban.

Who it suits

✓NEET-qualified students who want an English-medium MBBS at a state university for under USD 7,000 a year
✓Students who can manage minus 20 degree winters and will learn basic Russian or Kazakh for the wards
✓Families who will deal with the university directly rather than through a seller of seats

Popular courses

General Medicine (MBBS)DentistryPharmacyNursingPublic health

Watch out for

!Fees are set in tenge and the exchange rate moves, so a dollar figure quoted in March can be a different amount by September.
!Clinical rotations run in Russian and Kazakh. Students who do not learn the language lose the practical training that the NMC requires.
!The visa is renewed every year. A missed renewal or an unregistered address can end your course.
!Confirm in writing that the university runs the 12-month internship for foreign graduates at its own hospitals, as the NMC requires.
!If a seller of seats will not let you speak to the university’s international office directly, do not go ahead.

What studying here is like

Kazakhstan’s state medical universities in Astana, Almaty, Semey, Karaganda and Shymkent run six-year General Medicine courses in English, with classes of Indian, Pakistani and local students. Campuses are modern, hostels are basic but safe, and the cities are well ordered. Winters are long and very cold, especially in Astana and Semey. The wards run in Russian and Kazakh, so the universities teach both languages. The students who do well are the ones who use them.

How the journey works

Tell us where you want to study, and we will start with your NEET result and your budget. Shortlisting runs from January to May. We compare the universities’ own price lists, the size of the English-medium intake, FMGE results and hostel conditions. The documents are Class 10 and 12 marksheets, your NEET scorecard, your passport, a medical certificate, and notarised translations into Kazakh or Russian. Universities interview in English on biology and chemistry. Semey, for example, takes applications from 5 to 20 August and enrols by 25 August, so your decision needs to be made by June. The university then arranges your visa support through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and you apply for the C9 visa at the Kazakh Embassy in New Delhi. Classes start in September, and the university renews your visa each year.

Money, honestly

Six years on Astana Medical University’s English track costs about KZT 18 million in tuition, roughly USD 40,000 at early November 2026 rates. Add living costs of around USD 2,000 to 3,500 a year, and the hostel on top of that. Other universities quote less, but check the figure on the university’s own price list rather than on an agent’s table. The figures above leave out the yearly visa and registration costs, medical insurance, winter clothing, flights, changes in the exchange rate, FMGE coaching, and the unpaid internship in India at the end. There is no part-time work to help with any of it.

Our honest take

Choose Kazakhstan if you are NEET-qualified, want a state university with English-medium teaching at a mid-range fee, and will learn Russian for the wards. It is quieter and better organised than many MBBS options abroad, and the FMGE pass rate is close to the rate for Russia. Think twice if you need to earn money while studying, if you cannot manage the cold, or if the only person you have spoken to is a seller of seats. Confirm the internship, the batch size and the fee in writing from the university itself.

Start your application

Sources

Figures are estimates, checked November 2026. Rules and fees change; the official pages above are always right when we disagree.

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