Albania Greenlights Residency for Digital Nomads and Retirees

TIRANA, June 25

 

Good news for digital nomads looking for a new place to sojourn and for pensioners planning to retire to an affordable country in the Mediterranean. The Albanian Parliament approved on Thursday the bill ‘On Aliens’ which among many amendments includes two concerning the above-mentioned categories.
The bill that was proposed for consultation in December 2020 and was finally passed by the Parliament includes an article on ‘unique residence permits for digital nomads’.
According to article 68, the responsible authority provides the international applicant with a ‘unique residence permit for remote employees’ of one year validity for the first time when the foreigner has a legal stay in Albania and complies with the points below:
The applicant provides proof of a remote work contract with an overseas employer and that the employee will work without offsite for specific tasks that imply the use of information technology tools.
Moreover, the applicant must prove that she/he has enough income to support themselves or the people they’re responsible for during their stay in Albania.
The applicant must provide proof of accommodation and his address in Albania.
The applicant must have health insurance for at least one year.
The applicant has proof of clean criminal records issued from the country of origin.

Retiree residence permit 

In the meantime, article No. 85 defines the requirements for those who plan to retire to Albania.
All foreign citizens who are entitled to a pension in their home countries are eligible to apply for a retiree residence permit at the Albanian authority responsible for the border and migration.
The responsible authority provides the international applicant with a residence permit for retirees of one year validity for the first time if the citizen meets the following criteria:
The applicant must provide proof of annual pension income at a minimum of Lek 1.2 million. This can be proved through documents issued in the country of origin. The documents must be legalized by a public notary.
The applicant must prove that she/he has enough income to support themselves or the people they’re responsible for during their stay in Albania.
The applicant proves the existence of a visit bank account in a second-tier bank in Albania. The account will be used for regular pension payment transfers while the document can be provided by the bank.
The applicant must provide proof of accommodation in Albania.
The applicant must have health insurance for at least one year.
The applicant has proof of clean criminal records issued from the country of origin.

Further on, point No. 3 of article 85 defines that the residence permit can be renovated each year if the applicant complies with the above-mentioned requirements.

Moreover, the bill points out that the holder of a retiree residence permit is eligible for family reunification with a spouse or partner that receives no pension.

However, this residence permit does not provide its holder the right to economic or professional activities in Albania.

Further on, another novelty is the unique residence permit for other categories of foreign people working and residing in Albania. Currently, those categories are equipped with labor and a residence permit.

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Source: parlment.al

Photo credit: Invest in Albania