Degrees of separatism, and degrees of suppression.
It isn't illegal to be a member of the Scottish National Party (arguably separatist), nor... any more... Sinn Fein[1][2] in Northern Ireland. Plaid Cymru is a valid Welsh party (I think there's others, like Plaid Glyndŵr), and Mebyon Kernow does that job for the P-Celtic peninsula that is just to the south. They are all 'separatist',
Whereas look at the pro-democracy/remain-unsubsumed movements in Hong Kong. Pretty much legislated out of existence, even the slightest "actually, I like it how it was" that really isn't anything comparable to actual regionalised nationalism.
Though I really wasn't considering the threat of separatism/nationalism, it was just that the Kazakh government is still very much of a variety of government where "stability" is only through some degree of oppression.
Now, to you, Max, you might calculate that it's a valid move to make if Russia goes to a level of intollerability. That even if it drives the Kazakh situation in the same direction that you'll get a grace period as you make a transition to whatever the follow-up destination is that you have in mind. But from what I heard of government crackdowns at the beginning of this year, any notable 'stability' compared to Russia is a "damning with faint praise" situation. You probably have your ears closer to the ground than us, of course, assuming you're not being kept in the dark by censorship, so it's just a 'typical western' viewpoint of mine that might be wrong.
((BTW, one of the rounds in a particularly entertaining
celebrity quiz show thingummy is "Where Is Kazakhstan?". Because Kazakhstan is a good placeholder concept for "I know it exists, but couldn't find it on a map", which is the general premise of the round. i.e. finding things on a map, though I don't think it has ever
been Kazakhstan... or the Central African Republic.
![Wink ;)](http://97.107.128.126/smf/Smileys/aaron/wink.gif)
For the ninth-largest country in the world (and with many other interesting distinctions), that says more about those who couldn't answer such a question than about Kazakhstan itself!))
Anyhoo. I hope you never need to go with your plans, but also that they go as well as possible if you do actually have to commit to them. It also makes me realise how relatively comfortable my own situation is...
[1] In fact, they're the ones that are being least childish, at the moment, compared with the non-separatist (by current standards!) DUP.
[2] However, being a member of any recognisable flavour of /New/Provisional/Whatever IRA is not. Links to SF aren't quite as joined-at-the-hip as they were, which was how the political arm stopped being proscribed.