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, with the law behind every answer

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.
3

This visa doesn’t lead to 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 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. Check the Ministry’s visa table for the passport and enter with the documents required for the permitted visit.Open punetejashtme.gov.al ↗
  2. Gather these documents.
    • Arrange health cover for the stay
6

Postern can’t run this for you yet.

The official application forms, submission and recovery specification are not complete. Postern cannot run this application yet.

Options open to you today →
7
ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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