There are various conditions for obtaining Albanian citizenship that foreigners can obtain Albanian citizenship if they meet the requirements. By obtaining Albanian citizenship, you can live in Albania permanently without the worry of a visa.
Not only you, but also your wife, your children who are under 14 years of age can all get Albanian citizenship. After obtaining Albanian citizenship, you can enjoy all the services of the state, participate in elections, get free treatment in state hospitals.
Albanian passport is the 89th strongest passport in the world, with this passport you can travel to 89 countries including Schengen countries without a visa. 34 countries of the world issue online visas to Albanian passport holders and 31 other countries of the world issue visas at the airport upon arrival to Albanian passport holders.
Albanian Citizenship Eligibility
The conditions and methods of obtaining Albanian citizenship are clearly defined in the Constitution of Albania, and those who have these conditions can directly apply for Albanian citizenship without any controversy or obstacle.
In order to get Albanian citizenship, you need to have a special relationship with Albania, it can be to live in Albania for a long time, to have a business there, to live and work in Albania, married with Albanian citizen and have a joint life and family with him/her, or because you yourself were born in Albania, or your child was born in Albania, if the Albanian government see you ( your work) good and beneficial for Albanian it can grant you citizenship without other requirements.
The application for Albanian citizenship starts from the nearest police station and after going through many steps, it is approved by the president and published in the official gazette.
Albanian Citizenship Requirements
In order to get Albanian citizenship, you need to meet specific requirements, the most important thing is how you want to get Albanian citizenship, for example, through marriage, Albanian citizenship through birth or It is different from obtaining citizenship through naturalization.
- You must currently live in Albania
- Must be eighteen years old
- You have not been imprisoned for more than three years, you have not committed a crime for which you have been imprisoned for more than three years (except for political reasons).
- You can provide proof of salary or work necessary to support yourself, employment contract, bank statement, bank balance etc.
- You must have lived in Albania for five years
- In general, you should speak Albanian
- There is no danger to the national security of Albania
Albanian Citizenship by Marriage
The Albanian government grants citizenship to those who are married to an Albanian. In order to obtain Albanian citizenship through marriage, you must have lived together for three years, otherwise, you must have been married for three years.
Another important condition for completing three years of marriage is to live legally in Albania for one year. According to Article 10, you must have lived in Albania for one year, this is not one year after three years of marriage. If you have spent one year in Albania during the first three years, you can apply for Albanian citizenship.
Those applying for Albanian citizenship through marriage are not required to present a certificate of learning the Albanian language, in general, other persons must obtain a certificate of learning the Albanian language from an educational institution in Albania.
Albanian Citizenship by Naturalization
If you have been living in Albania for a long time, you can obtain Albanian citizenship through naturalization. If you have lived legally in Albania for five years and are still living in Albania, you can apply for citizenship of this country.
In order to obtain Albanian citizenship by naturalization, the following conditions must be met:
- Eighteen years old
- If you have financial resources, or have a job or a business, for this you can provide a bank statement or a job or any other work that you do and get financial benefit from.
- You must not have committed a crime for which you have been sentenced to more than three years in prison
- Learning the Albanian language at the first level
- No threat to Albania’s national security
- Albanian citizenship by birth
- Albania is one of those countries where new born babies can get citizenship by birth, if the parents agree those foreigners babies who live legally in Albania can get Albanian citizenship.
- New born children who do not have the citizenship of another country automatically acquire Albanian citizenship without delay. Children living in Albania as refugees can also acquire Albanian citizenship.
- Children who have not reached puberty and are adopted by an Albanian family can also acquire Albanian citizenship.
How to apply for Albanian citizenship?
Well, if you have met the general requirements, now is the time to apply for Albanian citizenship. Here, first, we will review all the documents that are necessary when applying for Albanian citizenship, and then we will explain the application process.
Documents required to apply for Albanian citizenship:
- Identity card, where your name, surname, date of birth and place are written accurately
- Full and complete address of your permanent residence
- Telephone number and email address
- Application for Albanian citizenship
- Birth certificate (must be certified by the Embassy of Albania)
- A certificate of good character issued by the local police (you must not have committed a crime)
- Four photographs (passport size photographs are accepted)
- Certificate of knowledge of the Albanian language (this can be obtained from any educational institution of the Albanian language)
- Application Fee Payment
- A copy of your Albanian residence card
- Ownership of the house or rental agreement (notarized)
- Your employment contract, any work or job you have, the contract letter
- Proof of proper financial status, bank statement, bank balance, or any other proof that you have a regular income to support your life.
- Last also Police Clearance Certificate
- It is worth noting that the required documents may differ depending on the basis on which you want citizenship.
Apply for Albanian citizenship
Collect all your documents, prepare a letter of request for citizenship and go to the nearest police station where you live, here you can submit your documents for the request for citizenship.
After that, the Police Center will refer the documents to the Ministry of Interior with your request. Now the Ministry of Interior will evaluate your documents and request. Decides on the request.
If your documents are incomplete, the Ministry of Interior will contact you and give you one month to complete your documents.
If the Ministry of Interior accepts your request for citizenship, then this process is sent to the President of Albania. You can also get an Albanian ID card or passport.
Ersin is a freelener journalist, he has a 4 years experience in travel content creation. he is now a full time member of traveli24.com group.