Program Overview
US Mission Kazakhstan’s American Citizen Services unit is currently recruiting volunteers to serve in our American Liaison Network (ALN). The ALN is a key component of Embassy Nur Sultan’s and US Consulate General Almaty’s efforts to ensure the safety and security of U.S. citizens in Kazakhstan. Citizen Liaison Volunteers (CLVs) serve as a link between consular staff and US citizens living in or visiting Kazakhstan. CLVs help us disseminate messages to the U.S. citizen community and, in extraordinary circumstances, help us deliver emergency services to U.S. citizens. CLVs also help keep the embassy and consulate informed about issues facing Americans by providing updates about the concerns, interests, and needs of U.S. citizens in their designated ALN zone. Additional CLV roles and responsibilities typically include:
- Participate in US Mission Kazakhstan crisis management exercises
- Report on local resources available for U.S. citizens in your ALN zone. Identify resource gaps and, when possible, propose solutions to fill those gaps.
- Identify potential risks facing Americans in your ALN zone; identify gaps in preparedness for the U.S. citizen community.
- Maintain local contacts who could assist with consular issues, including both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens.
- Engage with other CLVs to share relevant information and best practices.
- Encourage U.S. citizens to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).
CLVs are private U.S. citizens who are not employees, spokespersons, consular officers, or consular agents of the official US Mission to Kazakhstan. These are voluntary positions and are not entitled to any financial compensation.
If you or someone you know may be interested in serving as a CLV—or if you just want to learn more about these positions—please let us know!
CLV Candidate Profile
CLVs are usually American citizens who are longer-term residents of Kazakhstan. Attributes that would be of interest to our American Citizen Services unit include:
- Proficiency in Russian and/or Kazakh (in addition to English).
- Membership in any constituency that includes a significant number of Americans who live in or routinely visit Kazakhstan, such as businesses, schools, student groups, religious organizations, travel agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or professional affiliations.
- Strong ties to your local community and a network of local contacts that could be leveraged to locate or assist American citizens during emergencies.
- Previous experience in crisis management, to include with evacuations, medical emergencies, disaster response, or as a former CLV
- Strong communications skills, good judgement, and maturity.
- Proactive, flexible, and composed, especially during emergency situations
- Motivated to help other Americans in Kazakhstan.
We encourage applicants from all regions of Kazakhstan to apply and are particularly interested in recruiting additional CLVs from Aktau/Mangystau, Aktobe, Almaty, Kokshetau, Kyzlorda, Oskemen, Petropavlovsk, Semey, Shymkent, Taraz, and Turkestan.
Recruitment Process
If you are interested in becoming a CLV, please complete form DS-5506 Local US Citizen Skills_Resources Survey (PDF, 61 KB) and submit it via email to usakz@state.gov. Within the body of your email, please feel free to include any relevant information about yourself that is not included in the DS-5506. Any questions regarding the ALN program may also be directed to usakz@state.gov.
Consular staff will review your information and contact you with further instructions if we have a position available within your ALN zone. Prior to becoming a CLV, candidates are required to pass a background check and must sign a memorandum of agreement on an annual basis. Please note that the embassy or consulate may end CLV designations at any time, for any reason, or for no reason.
Thank you for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you!