Living in Albania as a Dutch citizen: no residence permit any more, but a registration within three months
Albania is not an EU country, but since the 2025 amendment an EU citizen no longer needs a residence permit there. You may stay 90 days in any 180 days without a visa. To live there, you register online as an EU citizen within three months, on one of four grounds: work, your own business, your own means with an Albanian health policy, or family. Many sites still describe the old permit; it no longer applies to you.
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Albania is not a member of the EU, though it is a candidate. With a Dutch passport or Dutch ID card you need no visa: you may stay 90 days in any 180 days (article 29 of the Albanian Law on Foreigners). If you want to live there, the good news is that since 2025 you no longer need a residence permit. You register online as an EU citizen within three months of arrival, and you receive a registration certificate (certifikatë regjistrimi).
Many English-language sites still describe the old Albanian residence permit (leje qëndrimi), the pensionado route and the five-year permit for EU citizens. Those belong to the old system. Law 43/2025 took EU citizens out of those rules and gave them a regime of their own: article 33/1.
What changed in 2025?
The law of 26 June 2025 added article 33/1 to the Law on Foreigners. Since then an EU citizen has the right to live in Albania for more than three months "without a residence permit or single permit". You do register online with the border and migration service where you live, no later than three months after arrival. You then enrol with the gjendja civile, the civil registry of your municipality. Only then are you officially a temporary resident. After five years of continuous legal residence you obtain permanent residence.
On which ground do you register?
| Ground | For whom | What you show |
|---|---|---|
| Own means | retirees, people living off their assets, people working remotely for employers abroad | enough means not to depend on social assistance, and a health policy in Albania |
| Work | people taking a salaried job with an Albanian employer | an employment contract or employer's statement |
| Own business | self-employed people and entrepreneurs | proof of your activity and your NIPT, the Albanian tax number |
| Family | the partner and children of an EU citizen living there | proof of the family tie |
A student can register too, with an enrolment, a health policy and means. The law sets no fixed income amount for "own means". Ask what the migration service considers enough.
How do own means work?
This is the route for people who will not work in Albania. You show that you have enough money for yourself and your family, and you hold a valid health insurance policy "in the Republic of Albania". The law does not say whether only an Albanian insurer counts, or also an international policy that covers Albania. The safest route is cover with the Albanian health fund or an Albanian insurer; see healthcare in Albania.
If you work remotely for an employer or clients abroad, that probably fits here too. The law does not say whether that counts as "work" or as "own means"; ask when you register.
And if you will work in Albania?
Since 2025 an EU citizen has the same right to work as an Albanian. You need no permission from AKPA, the Albanian employment agency, and there is no test of whether an Albanian is available for the job (article 80). Only jobs that require Albanian nationality are excluded. See working in Albania.
Are you coming with your partner?
If your partner is also an EU citizen, each of you registers in your own name; your partner can do so as a family member. A partner without an EU passport receives a residence card for the family member of an EU citizen, valid for five years, or shorter if your own residence is shorter.
If your partner is Albanian, things are different. Article 33/1 only mentions family members of an EU citizen. You then register on one of the other grounds, or you ask whether the permit for the partner of an Albanian (article 40) is open to you. That is valid for one year at first, then for two years at a time.
How does registration work in practice?
The implementing decision is VKM 240 of 1 April 2026. We could not open that text. Its draft, put out for consultation in February 2026, says: apply through e-Albania, the Albanian government portal, free of charge, and the service checks within five working days. You provide your passport or ID card, proof of entry, your address and a photo, plus the documents for your ground. Whether the service already works like this in e-Albania, ask the border police (Policia e Shtetit) or check e-Albania itself.
Documents from the Netherlands carry an apostille, an Albanian translation, and are at most six months old; that was the rule for the old permit, and it is the safe assumption.
What was the old route?
For people who are not EU citizens the permits still exist: for retirees with at least 1,200,000 lek a year (about € 13,200), for digital nomads and for owners of a home. They must be applied for within 30 days of arrival and come with fees. As a Dutch citizen you no longer need them. If a lawyer or a website still presents them as your route, ask why.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.1: 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 2.1 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.
- NederlandWereldwijd — travel advice Albania, no visa for up to 90 days — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- Ligj 79/2021 "Për të huajt", consolidated with law 43/2025 — article 29 (90 days in 180), article 33/1 (the EU regime) and article 80 (work without permission) — asp.gov.al
- Ligj 79/2021, the original text — the old five-year permit for EU citizens (article 33(5)) — asp.gov.al
- Draft amendment of VKM 858 (consultation February–March 2026) — the registration certificate, free of charge via e-Albania — konsultimipublik.gov.al
- VKM 858/2021, consolidated to May 2024 — the documents, the translation and the fees of the old permits — asp.gov.al
- HCCH — Albania has been party to the Apostille Convention since 2004 — hcch.net
- Bank of Albania — the official exchange rate — bankofalbania.org
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