Car and driving licence in Albania: duty-free as household goods after a year of ownership, at least Euro 4, and exchanging without a test
Your car can come to Albania. If it has been in your name for at least twelve months, it enters free of duties as household goods, but you may not sell it for two years. Otherwise you pay only VAT on the customs value. A used car must meet at least Euro 4; there is no age limit. You exchange your Dutch driving licence without a test for 8,500 lek, about 94 euros, once you have a right of residence of more than a year.
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Your car can come to Albania, and the rules are more generous than in many other countries. A used passenger car must meet at least Euro 4, but there is no age limit. If the car has been in your name for at least twelve months, it enters duty-free as household goods; you may then not sell it for two years. Otherwise you pay only VAT on the customs value, no import duty. You exchange your Dutch driving licence without a test, once you have a right of residence of more than a year.
Can you bring your car?
Customs distinguishes three situations.
| Situation | What applies |
|---|---|
| You come to live there, and the car has been in your name for at least twelve months | duty-free as household goods; then two years without selling, lending, renting out, pledging or giving it away; customs asks for a guarantee that is released after two years |
| You come to live there, but the car has been in your name for less time | clearance: you pay VAT (TVSH) on the customs value, the purchase price with adjustments; no import duty |
| You are not (yet) a resident | temporary import with Dutch plates: at most six months per twelve months |
The standard VAT rate in Albania is 20 percent. If customs doubts the value, it uses its own database. For clearance, you first register a personal number in Asycuda World, the customs system: you email a copy of your ID card to pagesat.dpd@dogana.gov.al.
Whether the relief on a change of residence also covers VAT, or only the import duties, the customs page does not say. For a car that is the largest amount. Have customs confirm it before you declare the car.
Temporary import is for visitors. Briefly crossing the border and coming back does not reset the six-month counter. If you keep driving too long, you pay a fine of 50 percent of the unpaid duties if you report it yourself, and 75 percent if you are stopped within six months after the period ends. If someone else also uses the car, 50,000 to 200,000 lek (about €550 to €2,200) is added. How long you may keep driving on Dutch plates as a new resident is not stated precisely anywhere. So arrange the import straight away when you move.
Which car is allowed in?
The DPSHTRR, the Albanian counterpart of the RDW, decides which vehicles may enter the country.
| Vehicle | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Used passenger car | at least Euro 4; no age limit |
| New passenger car | at least Euro 5, with a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) |
| Used bus or van | at least Euro 3, and at most 15 years old at first registration in Albania |
You can check your car's emission class online on the DPSHTRR website.
How do you get Albanian plates?
After customs, you register the car with the regional office of the DPSHTRR. Without Albanian plates an imported car may not go on the road; it is then transported on a tow truck. A foreign owner shows their right of residence; the site still mentions the residence permit, so ask whether your registration certificate as an EU citizen is enough.
| What | Fee |
|---|---|
| Number plates, per pair | 4,000 lek (about €44) |
| Registration certificate (leje qarkullimi) | 2,500 lek (about €28) |
| Temporary registration certificate | 1,000 lek |
| Check of the technical data | 2,000 lek |
After that you pay the TVMP every year, the tax on used vehicles. It depends on engine capacity, age and fuel; the DPSHTRR has a calculator for it. You pay it before the compulsory annual inspection (kontrolli teknik), and late payment costs 0.06 percent per day. You book the inspection via e-Albania.
How do you exchange your driving licence?
As a traveller you drive in Albania on your Dutch licence. Exchanging is possible once you have a licence from an EU country and a right of residence in Albania of more than a year. The DPSHTRR mentions no test. You apply at the DPSHTRR of your place of residence, with:
- Your identity document. Your passport with a notarised translation, and your right of residence.
- A medical certificate. For drivers, at most six months old.
- Your licence. A notarised copy with a sworn translation.
- A declaration. The declaration of administrative responsibility (deklaratë).
| Step | Fee or timing |
|---|---|
| Application | 4,000 lek (about €44) |
| Check | the DPSHTRR asks the Netherlands whether your licence is valid, and calls you in |
| Issue | you hand in your Dutch licence and pay 4,500 lek (about €50) |
| Collection | in Tirana the same day, elsewhere within three working days |
An international driving permit will not help you for long: according to the DPSHTRR it is no longer valid once you have lived in Albania for more than a year.
How long you may drive on your Dutch licence as a resident before you must exchange it is set out in the Albanian road traffic code, which we could not open. Ask the DPSHTRR as soon as you have your registration certificate.
In an accident you call 112, also with a Dutch number. The ambulance (127), fire brigade (128) and police (129) can be reached directly only with an Albanian number. How the household goods part of your move works is explained in household goods to Albania. What else comes up in your first weeks is in the first weeks in Albania.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.5: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Albania or go straight to step 5.5 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Dogana, the Albanian customs — the relief on a change of residence, with the car after twelve months of ownership, two years without selling and the guarantee — dogana.gov.al
- Dogana — customs clearance of vehicles, with temporary import for six months per twelve months, the fines and VAT on the customs value — dogana.gov.al
- Ligj 92/2014 on VAT, article 48 — the standard VAT rate (TVSH) of 20 percent — tatime.gov.al
- DPSHTRR, the Albanian vehicle authority — which vehicles may be imported, with at least Euro 4 for used passenger cars — dpshtrr.al
- DPSHTRR — fees for registering vehicles, with number plates and registration certificate — dpshtrr.al
- DPSHTRR — the annual tax on used vehicles (TVMP), payable before the inspection — dpshtrr.al
- DPSHTRR — exchanging a foreign driving licence, with the documents, the fees and the processing time — dpshtrr.al
- DPSHTRR — the international driving permit, not valid after a year of residence — dpshtrr.al
- Nederlandwereldwijd — travel advice for Albania, with the driving licence for travellers and the emergency numbers — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
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