POSTERN

Albania

Unilateral visa-free stay for U.S. citizens (up to 365 days). Albania unilaterally lets U.S. passport holders stay up to a full year without any visa or residence permit at all — not a residence status, but the reason many American remote workers use Albania as a base.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 27, 2026

Unilateral visa-free stay for U.S. citizens (up to 365 days)

365 days of visa-free presence with no work authorisation; it is a border stamp, not a residence permit, so it grants no right to work locally and does not register with immigration authorities.

Who qualifies

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

1

Does it fit your family?

2 questions, from the program’s own rules.

Steady monthly income, from any source?

Not legal advice.

2

What it takes.

Time
Immediate, at the border.
Cost
Nothing. No permit and no fee; you simply enter and stay up to a year.
The hard part
It is not a legal work status: remote work for a foreign employer is tolerated in practice but not formally authorised, and it never converts into residence.
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This door stops short of a passport.

  1. 2027
    First residence permit

    1 year, not renewable.

Language
Albanian, spoken and written, certified by a recognised school or university.
Civics
Basic knowledge of Albanian history, tested under rules set by the universities.
Time away
Seven years of continuous lawful residence, and a valid permanent residence permit on the day you apply. The permanent permit itself allows absences of up to 6 months at a time and 10 months in total over five years.
Two passports
Yes. You keep your U.S. citizenship.
  • Time on this program does not count toward permanent residence or citizenship; the family would need to switch to one that does.
  • The year without a visa is not a residence permit and builds nothing. The clock only starts once you apply for a real permit, and US citizens applying for the first time are given a 5-year permit.
  • The citizenship law was read in an English translation hosted by GLOBALCIT, not the official gazette. Amendments after 2020 were reported but not checked.
  • No official processing time for naturalisation was found.
  • AL-DNV: the law fixes the first nomad permit at 1 year. The length of renewals is not stated for this permit; the general rule allows 1-year permits renewed at least 5 times in a row.
The law behind these dates
4

Living there.

Time you must spend there
Resets after 90 days spent outside Albania.
Tax
Albania taxes foreign-sourced remote income at 0% for qualifying digital nomads through 2030 under a temporary incentive, even though this stay itself is not a formal nomad permit.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

5

Start today.

  1. Confirm current entry rules on the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs' travel page before relying on this for more than a visit.Open punetejashtme.gov.al ↗
  2. Round up the papers.
    • Arrange health cover for the stay
6

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

3 steps, from the first paper to the finish. You do 1 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →
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ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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