The first weeks in Albania: your registration within three months, the civil registry, your healthcare and the deadlines that start running
In your first weeks in Albania everything revolves around your registration as an EU citizen: online, within three months of arrival, and those three months coincide with your 90 days without a visa. You then enrol with the gjendja civile, the civil registry. Your healthcare runs from day one; the Albanian health fund has a six-month waiting period. As a visitor you may drive on Dutch plates for six months a year, and you exchange your driving licence once your right of residence runs for more than a year.
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In your first weeks in Albania everything revolves around your registration as an EU citizen. You arrange it online, within three months of arrival, and receive a registration certificate. Those three months coincide with your 90 days without a visa. You then enrol with the gjendja civile, the civil registry of your municipality. Only then are you officially a temporary resident, and can you arrange the rest: your bank, your healthcare, your car and your driving licence.
| What | Deadline | More |
|---|---|---|
| Registration as an EU citizen | within 3 months of arrival, online | registration and numbers |
| Enrolment with the gjendja civile | after your certificate; report every move | registration and numbers |
| Healthcare: health fund or policy | from day one; the health fund has a 6-month waiting period | healthcare |
| Bank account | once you have an address and your certificate | banking and payments |
| Household goods at customs | on import, with proof of your residence and your rental contract | household goods |
| Car on Dutch plates | as a visitor at most 6 months per 12 months | car and driving licence |
| Exchanging your driving licence | with a right of residence of more than a year | car and driving licence |
| Voluntary AOW insurance | apply within 1 year | SVB |
| Albanian tax return | before 31 March of the following year | AOW, pension and tax |
What do you arrange first?
Your registration. The law says: online, with the border and migration service where you live, no later than three months after arrival. According to the draft decision this goes through e-Albania, the Albanian government portal, free of charge and within five working days. We could not read the final decision. So in your first week ask whether the service is on e-Albania, at the border police (Policia e Shtetit) or on e-Albania itself. You need an address: so arrange your rental home before or right after arrival. See renting in Albania.
Your 90 days without a visa simply keep running. A Dutch ID card or passport must also be valid for at least three more months after you leave. Do not leave your registration until the last weeks: a missing document costs time.
Why the civil registry?
With your certificate you enrol with the gjendja civile. This puts you and your address in the register. Customs asks for a residence statement from the municipality for your household goods, and the road transport service DPSHTRR wants to see a residence document. Without this enrolment you get stuck at those counters.
What do you arrange next?
- Your healthcare. Your Dutch basic insurance has ended and there is no CAK arrangement. If you work, your employer insures you with the FSDKSH, the Albanian health fund. If you do not work, you join voluntarily (3,400 lek a month, six-month waiting period) or keep your private policy. See healthcare in Albania.
- Your bank. You open an account at a branch; ask in advance which documents the bank wants. See banking and payments in Albania.
- Your household goods. Belongings you have had for at least six months are free of import duties. Customs asks, among other things, for a list, your deregistration from the Netherlands, your residence document and your rental contract.
- Your phone. Albania does not yet fall under the EU roaming rules. Get an Albanian SIM card or eSIM.
- Your AOW. You no longer build up AOW. You apply to the SVB for voluntary insurance within a year.
What about your car and driving licence?
As a visitor you may drive in Albania on Dutch plates for at most six months per twelve months; briefly crossing the border does not reset that count. The rule is meant for non-residents. If you go to live there, you import the car: free as a household good if it was in your name for at least twelve months, and then not sold for two years. The car must meet at least Euro 4.
You exchange your Dutch driving licence at the DPSHTRR where you live once you have a right of residence of more than a year. The service mentions no test. You pay 4,000 lek for the application and 4,500 lek when you hand in your licence, together about € 94. An international driving permit is no longer valid once you have lived in Albania for more than a year. See car and driving licence in Albania.
Whom do you call if something happens?
The general emergency number is 112; it also works with a Dutch number. The ambulance (127), fire brigade (128) and police (129) can only be reached with an Albanian number. The largest hospital is the QSUNT in Tirana. Outside Tirana, care is limited.
The Dutch embassy is at Rruga Asim Zeneli 10 in Tirana. You do not apply for a new passport there, but in Skopje or in a Dutch border municipality. See registration and numbers in Albania.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: 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 5.1 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.
- Ligj 79/2021 "Për të huajt", consolidated with law 43/2025 — article 29 (90 days in 180) and article 33/1 (registration within three months) — asp.gov.al
- NederlandWereldwijd — travel advice Albania, with the emergency numbers and care outside Tirana — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- Albanian customs — household goods free of import duties, and the car as a household good — dogana.gov.al
- Albanian customs — handbook for travellers, with the six months for a foreign car — dogana.gov.al
- DPSHTRR — exchanging a foreign driving licence — dpshtrr.al
- FSDKSH — how to get insured with the Albanian health fund — fsdksh.gov.al
- SVB — voluntary AOW insurance, to be applied for within a year — svb.nl
- NederlandWereldwijd — the Dutch embassy in Tirana — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- Ligj 29/2023 on income tax, consolidated — article 61, the return before 31 March — tatime.gov.al
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