Getting an Albanian Visa: Staying Long-Term in Albania
Last Updated on July 26, 2021
If you have been following me on Instagram you will know the struggle I had with getting an Albanian visa. My first thoughts were that it was going to be an easy process to get one. The actual visa is easy to obtain but it’s getting the right documents and the time frame that can be the struggle. So, I decided to document the process and maybe it might give you a little insight into what it’s like to apply for a long-term visa for Albania.
NOTE: I am NOT a visa advisor. I cannot give you advice on an Albanian visa. This post is only telling you my personal experience with getting one. Depending on which country you are from, will affect which visas you can get, so it’s always best to check with your countries embassy.
Furthermore, if you would like to visit Albania’s beautiful neighbouring country, Greece, then make sure you check out the Byevisa for more information on whether you now require a visa to enter. If you’re not from a Schengen country, you soon might need to be entered into the ETIAS, which stands for European Travel Information and Authorisation System. This new electronic is not live as of yet, however, it will soon be required.
The type of visa
When I went to the immigration office in Saranda, I was told that for me I was able to apply for two types of visa – residential or work visa. I was told that for the residential visa I would need to buy a house or have a housing contract for 5 years (which is near impossible!). Also buying a house was also near impossible for me as I only had a month until my tourist visa would run out and, I don’t have a spare €50,000 sitting in my bank account (shock).
So, my only option was to apply for a work visa.
Documents I needed for my work visa:
- A housing contract for the length of stay I wanted, which was one year
- A list of work-related documents. (I won’t go into details of that as it’s a long list and it’s in Albanian, so it won’t make sense)
- Documents that I had purchased travel insurance in Albania for 1 year
- Criminal record with an apostille (and translated into Albanian)
- Photocopies of passport
- 4 photographs
- A document that I had been tax registered
Once you have given in all your documents and they have all been accepted, you will get given a two-month temporary visa while the other visa is processing.
Update August 2018 – Went to go pick up my year visa and it STILL wasn’t ready after 3 months so don’t stress, everything takes time in Albania!
Costs
I decided to document the cost of getting the documents too. All up it cost me a total of approximately €400. There were some documents that I didn’t include because I can’t remember the costs. It should cost a little less but as some of my documents weren’t accepted and I had to get sent emergency documents from New Zealand, it ended up costing me this much. The visa itself costs 10,000 lek (€80). I have included that cost into the total.
Top tips for getting a long-term Albanian visa
Allow time
Don’t do what I did and leave it to the last month. You may think a month might be just enough time to get it done but it wasn’t. Luckily, I was given a little extra time (30 days). If I wasn’t given those extra days I would have been over my visa and would have had to pay a fine (up to 100,000 lek which is €800).
If you are just arriving into Albania and you have the 3month tourist visa-free timeframe, then as soon as possible go to the office and get the process rolling. In Albania, nothing ever is on time. If you need a document done and they say one day it will most likely be two.
I would bring in a document to the office, it would be declined, and I would have to get another document. It would then take me another full day or two to get the new one. Nothing is rushed in Albania so if you’re in a hurry like I was then it’s super stressful.
Introduce yourself to the local immigration
Albania is not like other countries when it comes to visas. Make sure you introduce yourself to the local immigration and get chatting. It is helpful if you bring in a local who can translate. Even if they don’t need to translate it can help just in case there are problems as the locals know how to talk to them.
This helped me a lot. I really don’t know what I would have done if I was by myself talking to the officers. Even if they speak good English sometimes there can be miscommunications so it’s always best to have an Albanian with you.
So, my experience with getting an Albanian visa in three words: stressful, eventful and moderately easy (in terms of what you must do to get an Albania visa and to get accepted).
Again, I am NOT a visa advisor. I cannot answer questions on which visa and documents you need because it’s different for everybody. This is just an insight into my experience. If you’re interested to know what it’s like living in Albania as a tourist, then read this. To access all my other Albanian articles, click here.
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Other articles you will love:
- How to Find an Apartment to Rent in Saranda, Albania
- Q&A Albania: Favourite places, Costs and What I Dislike About Albania
- Cost of Living in Albania as a Tourist
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The Comments
Lane Beck
Hmm ? now you’ve got me thinking. Time for some Googling!
Anita Hendrieka
> Lane BeckHaha fantastic! Always like to get people thinking of the possibly of moving to Albania 🙂
Angel
Thank you! This is very informative. I have a question. According to the embassy website, you can stay up to 1 year without applying for anything. Do you know if that is still true??
Anita Hendrieka
> AngelFor Americans, yes that’s true 🙂
Ms. M
Hi Anita, Thank you for the great blog posts about Albania!
I am here in Albania and trying to get my papers together for residency… regarding the criminal record from your country, did you get one from the national level of NZ or from your local home area? And did the local office of immigration in Saranda approve all of your papers or did they send them away somewhere, like to Tirana, for final approval?
Thanks in advance for answering! 🙂
Anita Hendrieka
> Ms. MHey there, my criminal record was the official one that you can request from the NZ government. I think they sent them to Tirana for final approval but Saranda gave me pre-approval when I handed them in. It was all very confusing!
Paul
Dear Anita, what work-related documents do you need to apply for the work permit?
Anita Hendrieka
> PaulHello Paul, the best thing to do is to go to the immigration office. They have the list of exactly what you need 🙂
Anna Patricia
Hi Anita! Thanks for sharing all these info. I’m also in Albania right now and loving it. I’m thinking to extend my stay beyond 90 days. Is the visa you applied for the Long Stay Visa Type D?
veru
Hello Anita,
hope you are well.
I am EU citizen, currently in Albania. Would love to stay more than 90 days and trying to figure it out.
You mentioned you asked for a work visa. That means that somebody hired you, or you are self-employed?
Where exactly did you buy the insurance and what was the cost?
Where did you tax registered?
Thank you in advance.
Best wishes,
Veru
Patrick
Hi Anita, I’m planning to retire in the next year or so. My pension is not big, about US $1,100.00 a month plus savings. Will I be able to retire to a simple life in Albania and what would the requirements for US citizens to get retirement/long term visa? Thanks for blog. God bless.
Tara
hi Anita! Ohh so much paperwork, but I hope it’s all behind you and you can fully enjoy your stay in Albania! I have a question, maybe you know the answer if you know some americans in Saranda in a similar situation. I know that for americans it is possible to stay in Albania for 1 year without any visa/papers (what a luck! especially considering that we have sooo many issues to live freely in any part of EU)). I actually cannot find any information online regarding this. It says on Albanian gov site that americans can stay 365 days, then must leave the country for minimum 90 days and re-enter for another year. So, I was wondering if I stay 9 months in Albania, then exit for 3 months, will I get another year? For instance, if I enter Albania January 1st – October/Nov/Dec – I’m out the country; and I enter again January 1st, will this reset the clock with another 365 days? thanks for the info! And happy life in Albania! 🙂
Bashar
Hello Anita..
Thank you very much for all this information here…
I got one question..
You mentioned that you asked for a work visa.
Does that type of visa allowed for self-employed? and What is the required documents for self employed ??
My job is online and I would like to apply for that type of visa since I’m in Albania now.
Your advice please
Thanks again for your support
Tim Janiczk
Hi. For your residency, how did you get your birth certificate apostilled? Also, where can you get money in Albania? Everything here is SO expensive! Thanks.