What does emigrating to Albania cost?
Answer a few short questions and you have an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The registration as an EU citizen is the smallest item. The money sits in three other items: healthcare, with voluntary cover from the Albanian health fund of 40,800 lek a year, about 450 euros, or a private policy; the move by road or by sea; and the car, with VAT on its value if it isn't exempt as removal goods. One thing we state honestly. The cost of the registration is in a decision of April 2026 that we couldn't open; according to the draft it's free.
Looking for the whole route to Albania, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 3.300 – € 13.600
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 2.500 – € 8.000
- Healthcare, first year€ 450 – € 3.500
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 150 – € 700
- De verhuizing
- € 100 – € 500
- De eerste maanden
- € 3.100 – € 12.400
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Your registration as an EU citizen(estimate)€ 0 – € 50
- Certificates, VOG and apostilles(estimate)€ 50 – € 250
- A translation into Albanian, with certification(estimate)€ 100 – € 400
Documents from the Netherlands must be translated into Albanian. For family reunification the migration service asks for a translator licensed by the Albanian Ministry of Justice, and for exchanging your driving licence a notarised copy with a sworn translation. A Dutch-Albanian translation is scarce; going through English is often faster and cheaper, but ask first whether it's accepted. A certificate, a VOG and a driving licence quickly add up to four to six pages. A family with certificates for everyone sits at the top.
De verhuizing
- The journey to Albania(estimate)€ 100 – € 500
You fly to Tirana, or you drive. By road it's over 2,000 kilometres, through the Balkans or through Italy with the ferry to Durrës, with tolls, overnight stays and the crossing. The amount is per person for one single journey; whoever drives their own car shares the fuel, the tolls and the ferry and sits at the bottom. If you bring 10,000 euros or more in cash, you declare it to Albanian customs, and when leaving the EU also on the EU side.
De eerste maanden
- Healthcare, first year(estimate)€ 450 – € 3.500
Albania isn't on the CAK's list of treaty countries: your Dutch healthcare doesn't continue. If you're employed, you're compulsorily insured with the FSDKSH, the Albanian health insurance fund, and your employer withholds 1.7 percent of your pay. Whoever doesn't work can insure voluntarily for 3,400 lek a month, 40,800 lek a year (about 450 euros), with a six-month waiting period. For registration on your own means you also need a health policy in Albania; a private policy also covers the waiting period and the private clinics. We didn't look up officially what such a policy costs: ask for quotes. The state insures children under 18. The bottom is an employee, the top an older couple with a private policy.
- The first months(estimate)€ 2.500 – € 8.000
This item consists of the deposit, the first month's rent, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you still have double costs. We didn't find an official source for rental rules or rents. A rental contract of at least six months does make you a tax resident, and customs asks for it for your household goods. Tirana and the coast are more expensive than the interior. A family with three bedrooms sits at the top.
- Bank, phone, adviser and the first desks(estimate)€ 150 – € 700
Small money, but it all comes at once in the first weeks. It's about an Albanian bank account (the banks ask for a passport or ID card, and from someone who isn't a resident yet sometimes also a rental or employment contract and a tax number), an Albanian SIM card or eSIM (Albania isn't covered by EU roaming), passport photos and copies for every desk, and a conversation with an Albanian tax adviser. That last one isn't a luxury: whether Albania taxes your Dutch pension isn't certain yet.
- Exchanging your driving licence€ 0 – € 200
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
As a foreigner you can't own agricultural land, forest, pasture or meadow; you may rent it, for up to 99 years. You may only buy building land after you've invested according to the building permit, for at least three times the value of the land. Buying a flat or an existing building is allowed. The restrictions don't apply to an Albanian company, even if it's wholly owned by a foreigner.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 26 October 2026.
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One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
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From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with a few questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: who's coming, which ground, and whether the household goods, the car and the pet come along. It also watches the clocks: the ninety days as a visitor, the three months until your registration, and the six months of your papers. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
Leaving with AOW or a pension? Compare how countries tax your pension
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