LEGAL ALERT

Albanian Citizenship Law Amended: Naturalisation in the State Interest

WHAT CHANGED

Law No. 49/2026 creates a separate citizenship route based on marriage. Subject to the statutory integrity and security conditions, an applicant may qualify after four years of registered marriage regardless of residence; after three years of marriage plus at least one year of Albanian residence; or after two years of marriage where the couple has at least one child.

For naturalisation in the state interest, the law narrows the waived ordinary conditions to age, language/history knowledge and lawful-residence duration. The relevant minister must identify, support and guarantee the special state interest, while a Council of Ministers decision will set the procedure, evidence, security checks and a specialised reviewing agency.

WHO IS AFFECTED

Foreign nationals seeking Albanian citizenship outside the ordinary naturalisation route, and their advisers. The provision is directed at individuals of standing in education, science, art, culture, the economy or sport, but the drafting of "specific beneficial circumstances" is broader than that list.

It does not alter the ordinary naturalisation route, which continues to require the statutory period of continuous lawful residence together with the other conditions in Law No. 113/2020.

WHAT TO DO

• If you have advised a client that Article 9 was unavailable to them, the position may have changed.
• Applications on this basis are ministerially sponsored rather than purely administrative, and should be prepared on that footing.
• The reform follows the withdrawal of the earlier "golden passport" proposal and is politically sensitive in the EU accession context. Expect scrutiny of applications and be cautious of any intermediary marketing it as an investment-for-citizenship route.
• Clients on the ordinary five-year residence path should be told this changes nothing for them.