IT Visa in Uzbekistan 2026: Who Qualifies, the USD 30,000 Threshold and Family Rights

The IT visa in Uzbekistan is a multiple-entry visa of up to 3 years, issued on the recommendation of the IT Park directorate and extended without leaving the country. The rules are set by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution (CMR) No. 408 as restated by CMR No. 734 of 21 November 2025. As of October 2026 it is open to six categories of foreigners, and four of them face a USD 30,000 threshold: an investment or equity stake for the investor and the founder, and income over the previous 12 months for the manager and the IT specialist. The thresholds for the investor, the founder and the managers have applied since 7 March 2026 under Order No. 3387-1; the specialist’s income threshold has been unchanged since 2022.

Key points

• What it is. A multiple-entry visa of up to 3 years on the recommendation of IT Park, extended without leaving the country. Citizens of visa-exempt countries receive a recommendation (the IT-Card) instead of a visa, and it is treated as equivalent to the IT visa.
• Six categories. Investor; founder of an IT Park resident; head of a resident and deputy heads; IT specialist; participant in the “Digital Startups” program; university lecturer with an academic degree in IT.
• The USD 30,000 threshold is measured differently. For the investor and the founder it is the investment or equity stake; for the manager and the specialist it is income over the last 12 months. Startups and lecturers have no monetary threshold.
• IT Park status is not required for everyone. It is mandatory for the company of the founder and the manager. A specialist and a lecturer work under a contract with any Uzbek-resident legal entity, and an investor puts money into an Uzbek IT company.
• Family. The spouse, parents and children receive healthcare and education on the terms for citizens, may register for the term of the recommendation and may buy housing without the minimum price set for foreigners.
• Timelines and risks. Review takes up to 30 calendar days, and the recommendation must be collected within 3 months. It is terminated if the investment is withdrawn, if there is no contract within 30 working days, if the founder leaves the company, or if the company loses its status.

How the IT visa differs from a work visa, the investor route and a residence permit

Data as of the publication date, October 2026.

Under Annex 20 to CMR No. 86, as amended by CMR No. 176 of 16 April 2026, the fee for issuing the work permit confirmation depends on the category: for example, 1 BRV for highly qualified specialists, 2 BRV for qualified specialists and 30 BRV for others; review takes 15 working days. A foreigner who has invested at least 8,500 BRV in shares or equity, or in setting up a foreign enterprise, works in his or her own organization without a permit but obtains the visa separately (an investor visa under Presidential Decree PD-5611 — check the conditions on the filing date). The residence permit is granted under paragraph 26 of Presidential Decree No. PD-67 of 18 April 2025.

For developers at an IT Park resident, the main gain from the IT visa is not the right to work (they are exempt from the confirmation even without it) but three years without trips to renew a visa, plus rights for the family.

Who can get an IT visa in 2026

The categories are defined by the Regulation on the procedure for issuing recommendations (reg. No. 3387, 2022), as amended by Order No. 3387-1. The threshold is the equivalent of USD 30,000 throughout. The table lists the main documents; the full list is in paragraph 5 of the Regulation and in the application form (Annex 2).

If the participant in the Uzbek LLC is a foreign parent company, its representative applies as an investor rather than as a founder: the founder category is designed for an individual with a personal stake. The investment structure is chosen before filing, and our lawyers on foreign investment work on exactly this question.

Every application includes copies of the passports or ID cards of the applicant, the spouse, the parents and the children, the marriage certificate and the applicant’s photo.

What changed in 2025–2026

The regime was rewritten twice, and many answers in search results and from AI assistants still describe the old version.

• 21 November 2025. CMR No. 734 restated the provisions of CMR No. 408 on the IT visa. The IT visa and the IT-Card have existed since 2022; now the circle of recipients extends to heads and deputy heads of IT Park residents, startups and professors holding a PhD or DSc, and for citizens of visa-exempt countries the recommendation is expressly equated with a visa (IT Park news, 25.11.2025).
• 7 March 2026. Order No. 286-mh of the Ministry of Digital Technologies of 18 February 2026, registered by the Ministry of Justice as No. 3387-1, took effect. It introduced the USD 30,000 threshold for the investor, the founder and the managers, kept the specialist’s income threshold, added candidates of sciences, replaced the grounds for termination and gave 3 months to collect the recommendation.
• 1 July 2026. Annex 20 to CMR No. 86 applies in its new version; specialists of IT Park residents remain exempt from the work permit confirmation.

Some retellings of the March changes (for example, on kun.uz) mention managers together with founders, without stating a criterion. Under the order, the criterion is income of USD 30,000 over 12 months, so a hired director does not need to hold equity. The USD 10,000 investor threshold found in older materials no longer applies.

How to get an IT visa: step by step

• Choose the category. The category determines the threshold, the documents and the grounds for termination. If one person is both founder and director, keep in mind that the founder’s recommendation does not depend on the employment contract, while the manager’s recommendation ends together with it.
• Prepare the company. A founder and a manager need a company with IT Park resident status; a specialist and a lecturer need a contract with an Uzbek-resident legal entity; an investor needs an investment in an Uzbek IT company. If there is no company yet, start with LLC registration and, if needed, obtaining IT Park resident status.
• File the application on the IT Park directorate’s portal. At the time of writing, itvisa.uz redirected to it-relocation.uz. The family is listed in the same application.
• Completeness check and expert review. Completeness is checked within 1 working day; an incomplete package is not reviewed (para. 10), and you can file again once the defects are fixed. The expert council issues its opinion within 20 days; the interview is held in person or remotely, at the applicant’s choice.
• Decision. The directorate decides within 1 working day after the opinion and notifies the applicant by e-mail or through the personal account. The whole process takes no more than 30 calendar days.
• Collect the recommendation within 3 months. Collect it in person or through a representative under a power of attorney; a reminder arrives 10 days before the deadline. A recommendation that is not collected is annulled.
• Obtain the visa. Citizens of visa-exempt countries do not need one: the recommendation is equated with the IT visa. For countries with a visa requirement, if the applicant is abroad, the directorate applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (para. 20); if the applicant is already in Uzbekistan, the employer applies to the internal affairs bodies — an Uzbek-resident employer, an IT Park resident or the company receiving the investment (para. 22).
• Register after arrival. The right to register for the whole term of the recommendation does not replace temporary registration at the place of stay under the general rules; check the deadlines on the date of entry.
• Extend in advance. The recommendation is extended in the same way as it is issued (paras 25 and 27), and the visa is extended without leaving the country. The Regulation sets no filing deadline, but review takes up to 30 calendar days, so file 1.5–2 months before the recommendation expires.

The periods are taken from the Regulation (lex.uz carries an unofficial English translation of the 2022 version) and from Order No. 3387-1. Under paragraph 24 of the Regulation, no fee is charged for reviewing, issuing or extending the recommendation; the visa and consular fees are checked on the filing date.

Documents: what to prepare in advance

An incomplete package is a ground for refusing to review the application, so check three things in advance.

• Income. A certificate from a bank or an authorized body covering 12 months. If the income is in another currency, build in a margin: what counts is the equivalent of USD 30,000.
• Investment. A statement confirming an investment of at least USD 30,000, a project description and the company’s letter on joint implementation; if the investor is a company, add a document proving the representative’s authority.
• Qualification. The specialist’s diploma or certificate and the lecturer’s degree document are accepted in Uzbek, Russian or English; otherwise an official translation is needed.

Rights of the holder and the family

The rights are listed in paragraph 26 of the Regulation and on the 2026 recommendation form, and they extend to the holder, the spouse, the parents and the children.

• Healthcare and education. On the terms provided for citizens of Uzbekistan.
• Temporary registration. With the internal affairs bodies for the whole term of the recommendation.
• Buying housing. Under the general rules, a foreigner without a residence permit can buy a flat in a new building at no less than the minimum price set for foreigners. For the holder of a recommendation and the family this minimum does not apply, and a residence permit is not required. Check the amount of the minimum on the date of the deal, and have the property and the seller reviewed by real estate lawyers.

The rules do not say directly which type of visa family members from visa-requiring countries receive. According to IT Park’s 2022 explanation, it is a visitor visa; confirm the procedure on the filing date.

When you can work without work permit confirmation

The exemption comes not from the IT visa but from the employer’s status. Annex 20 to CMR No. 86 takes the following foreigners out of the procedure: specialists of IT Park residents, residence permit holders, and investors of 8,500 BRV or more in their own organization. A specialist with an IT visa at a company without IT Park status needs the confirmation, except in cases that Annex 20 exempts separately (for example, university lecturers). An investor on an IT visa works without the confirmation only if the company is an IT Park resident or the investment reaches 8,500 BRV. The exemption does not extend to family members.

When the recommendation is revoked

Since 7 March 2026 the grounds for termination have been listed in the new version of paragraph 28.

• Investor. The investment is withdrawn during the term of the recommendation.
• Specialist and lecturer. No employment or civil-law contract with an Uzbek-resident legal entity is concluded within 30 working days, or the contract is terminated.
• Founder. The company loses its IT Park resident status, or the founder leaves the company’s participants.
• Manager. The employment contract expires, is not renewed or is terminated.
• Startup. The project loses its status as a participant in the “Digital Startups” program, the startup’s founder leaves the participants, or the contract with the startup’s specialist expires, is not renewed or is terminated.

The 2022 rule requiring the investment to be made within 3 months of the date of the recommendation no longer applies: the USD 30,000 is confirmed at filing.

After a contract is terminated, the holder has 30 days to conclude a contract with a new employer or customer, and both the holder and the employer notify the directorate within 10 days. If the new contract is not reported, the directorate decides on annulment within 5 working days. Paragraph 28 speaks of 30 working days and paragraph 30 of 30 days, so count by the shorter period.

Common mistakes

• Filing the founder as a founder when the LLC participant is a parent company. In that case the parent’s representative files as an investor.
• Structuring the investment as a loan. A return of the money during the term of the recommendation may be treated as a withdrawal of the investment.
• Adding the family later. The family’s documents are attached to the application itself; it is simpler to include everyone at once than to find out how to supplement the file.
• Choosing the category by paperwork alone. A director with a stake of USD 30,000 or more is safer filing as a founder: the recommendation will not end together with the employment contract.
• Assuming the IT visa removes the need for work permit confirmation. The exemption is tied to the employer being an IT Park resident.
• Skipping registration after arrival. The right to register for the term of the recommendation does not register you by itself.

Example: relocating a team of five

The example is hypothetical, and the figures are chosen for illustration. The founder of a foreign IT company opens an LLC in Tashkent, obtains IT Park resident status and relocates five people with their families.

• The founder becomes a participant in the LLC personally, with a stake of USD 50,000, and files as a founder; his wife and two children are included in the same application. Had the participant been the parent company, he would have filed as its representative in the investor category.
• The CTO is appointed director, with income of USD 60,000 over 12 months. He files as a manager, with the appointment decision and a bank certificate.
• Two engineers with incomes of USD 35,000 and USD 32,000 file as IT specialists, with an employer letter, employment contracts and diplomas.
• A third engineer with an income of USD 24,000 does not qualify for the IT visa. He can work at an IT Park resident without the confirmation, but he arranges his visa and registration under the general rules.

Each application is reviewed within 30 calendar days; if the package is complete and the criteria are confirmed, the directorate issues the recommendations. The contracts are already attached to the applications, so after issuance the company formalizes the hiring and sets up notifications. If an engineer leaves, he has 30 days to conclude a new contract, and the company must notify the directorate within 10 days.

What next: residence permit and taxes

If you plan to stay longer than 3 years, compare the IT visa with the 5-year residence permit under Presidential Decree PD-67: USD 250,000 for the applicant and USD 150,000 for each family member; check the procedure for making the payments on the filing date.

An individual’s tax residency is determined under the Tax Code by the time spent in Uzbekistan, not by the type of visa, so it is worth counting the days in advance. The benefits for companies are covered in our article on IT Park resident status, and company set-up in the guide to registering an LLC with a foreign founder.

How Pactum helps

• We select the category for each team member, taking into account the threshold and the grounds for termination.
• We register an LLC with a foreign founder (from UZS 3,500,000) and support the process of obtaining IT Park resident status.
• We prepare the full package for the IT Park portal: petition letters, appointment decisions, contracts and translations.
• We structure the investment so that it cannot be treated as withdrawn, and we set up notifications to the directorate.
• We review the property and the seller when a recommendation holder buys housing.

You can start with the page on IT Park residency or with a lawyer consultation: 60 minutes, UZS 300,000, credited toward the cost of the service. We name the cost of the project after reviewing the task.

FAQ

Can a self-employed specialist or independent contractor get an IT visa?

The Regulation has no separate category for independent contractors or sole proprietors. A specialist needs an employment or civil-law contract with an Uzbek-resident legal entity; otherwise the recommendation is terminated after 30 working days. A self-employed professional can apply as an investor, as a founder of an IT Park resident or as a participant in the “Digital Startups” program.

Does the employer have to be an IT Park resident to hire a specialist on an IT visa?

No: a specialist and a lecturer sign a contract with any Uzbek-resident legal entity. However, the exemption from the work permit confirmation applies only at IT Park residents, so any other company obtains the confirmation under the general rules unless the employee falls under a separate exemption.

Can I open my own company on an IT visa?

Yes: register an LLC, obtain IT Park resident status and apply as a founder with a personal stake of USD 30,000 or more. A specialist’s recommendation is tied to the contract with the employer, so when your role changes it is sensible to file a new application under the new category.

Will my wife and children get a visa?

The spouse, children and parents are listed in the application, and healthcare, education, registration and the preferences for buying housing extend to them. According to IT Park’s explanation, family members from visa-requiring countries are issued a visitor visa rather than an IT visa; confirm this on the filing date. The exemption from work permit confirmation does not extend to them.

How does the IT visa differ from a digital nomad visa?

As of October 2026 the rules on the IT visa contain no digital nomad category: neither CMR No. 734 nor Order No. 3387-1 provides for one. Remote work for a foreign customer is not a ground for an IT visa. You need a contract with an Uzbek legal entity, a stake in an IT Park resident, an investment or participation in the “Digital Startups” program.

How much does an IT visa cost?

Under paragraph 24 of the Regulation, no fee is charged for reviewing, issuing or extending the IT Park recommendation. The visa or consular fee is checked at the consulate or the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the filing date. We price Pactum’s legal support after reviewing the task.

Do citizens of visa-exempt countries need an IT visa?

They do not need to obtain a visa: the IT Park directorate issues a recommendation, which is equated with the IT visa and in practice is the IT-Card. The rights of the holder and the family are the same, and registration at the place of stay follows the general rules.

Sources

• Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 734 of 21.11.2025
• Order of the Ministry of Digital Technologies No. 286-mh, registered by the Ministry of Justice as No. 3387-1 of 06.03.2026
• Regulation on the procedure for issuing IT Park recommendations, reg. No. 3387 — unofficial English translation of the 2022 version; the 2026 changes are in Order No. 3387-1
• Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 86 of 22.02.2022, Annex 20
• Presidential Decree No. PD-67 of 18.04.2025
• IT Park: new measures to attract foreign IT experts launched in Uzbekistan, 25.11.2025
• IT Park: event on obtaining the IT-visa and IT-Card, 25.07.2022
• Kun.uz: Uzbekistan expands eligibility and requirements for IT visas, 11.03.2026