“Your marriage has expired“: Kazakhstanis warned of new threat

Tengrinews.kz – A video with an unusual notification has spread on social media. In it, spouses are allegedly asked to pay 21,345 tenge to renew their marriage registration. The Ministry of Justice explained whether such a procedure exists.
How it started
The story began as a joking trend on social media: wives faked screenshots or texts of push notifications from banks and sent them to their husbands to test their reaction. In one such video, a couple discusses the “bill” they received, after which the confused husband agrees to transfer 21,345 tenge just to avoid having the marriage annulled.
Screenshot: TikTok
The video gained more than 200,000 views. While some users laughed at how trusting the husbands were and asked in the comments for a “ready-made text” to trick their own partners into sending money, others questioned whether marriages in Kazakhstan really need to be renewed periodically. Some suggested that the message could be linked to fraud — for example, scammers may try to obtain money or personal data this way.

“Why 21,000? They should have asked for 100,000 right away for a lifetime subscription!”, “My husband replied to a message like that: ‘Nah, I won’t renew it,’” “Well, the main thing is that your husband wants to renew his marriage with you!”, “I checked — and I actually already got 10,000 tenge from him!” social media users wrote in the comments.

What the Ministry of Justice said
The Ministry of Justice denied that any payment is required to “renew a marriage.”

“False information is being spread on social media through second-tier bank apps about the need to ‘renew the term of marriage registration,’ which is fraudulent in nature. The Ministry of Justice warns that, in accordance with marriage and family legislation, marriage is registered once and has no established expiration date. Therefore, marriage renewal is not required,” said Talgat Uali, official representative of the Ministry of Justice.

When a marriage ends
The ministry also separately explained that a marriage can only be terminated officially.

“A marriage may be terminated through divorce at the request of one or both spouses, as well as in other cases provided for by law. Divorce is carried out only through a registration authority or through the courts,” the ministry noted.

If a marriage is dissolved through a registration authority, it ends from the date of state registration of the divorce. If it is dissolved through the courts, it ends from the date the court decision enters into legal force.
How to avoid falling for a fraudulent message
The Ministry of Justice urged Kazakhstanis not to trust such notifications if they raise doubts.
The ministry recommends:

not following links from suspicious messages;
not transferring money using the details provided in them;
not sharing personal data with third parties.

If a message seems suspicious, it is better to verify the information independently through official resources or contact the relevant government agency.