Albania e-Visa: online application step by step

Since the 2025 amendment, Article 23 of the Law on Foreigners requires every visa application to be filed through the electronic visa system; an in-person application at a mission is reserved for exceptional cases set by the Council of Ministers. The system covers the airport transit visa A, six purposes of visa C (tourism, organised tourist groups, scientific, cultural, sports and humanitarian activities, official visits, medical treatment, business) and more than twenty D visa purposes, from study and family reunification to digital mobile workers, pensioners and owners of real estate. Border visas for ship crews are also generated through it.

For work-related D visas (employee, seasonal worker, highly qualified worker, self-employed, investor, digital nomad and others) the process starts on e-Albania with the Unique Permit application. Once AKPA has approved the job, the application is posted to the e-Visa system, which generates the visa code for the chosen embassy.

The fee depends on your nationality, the visa type and the number of entries, as set in the table annexed to Decision No. 858 and revised by Decision No. 329 of 29 May 2024. Where Albania has no specific amount for a country the fee is EUR 35. Children aged 6 to 12 pay half, children under 6 and humanitarian cases are exempt. Under Article 28 of the Law on Foreigners, fees for sticker and electronic visas are not refunded if the visa is refused.

You create an account, choose the visa type and the consular post, complete the form and upload documents. All uploads must be scanned PDF files in Albanian or English; the photo must be 47 x 36 mm (555 x 425 px at 300 DPI) with a white background, and the passport scan must show the whole data page. Applicants with dual nationality select the passport they will travel on; an e-Visa linked to another passport is invalid. Some posts have a daily application limit.

The consul pre-verifies the file. If documents are missing you receive comments and must upload corrections within 15 days, or the application is refused automatically. If the file is in order you receive a payment request; you pay at a bank and upload the receipt, which must carry the bank's stamp and the clerk's signature. Online transfers and phone screenshots are not accepted as proof. During verification the applicant, the host and anyone else are strictly forbidden from contacting the authorities unless contacted by them.

Apply no earlier than 90 days before the intended travel date; applications with a travel date more than 90 days ahead are refused. The fee must be paid within 15 days of the payment notice, otherwise the application moves to "Not paid" status and is rejected automatically. After payment the assessment takes 15 working days as a rule and up to 30 working days in exceptional cases. The law itself caps the total procedure at 15 days from acceptance, extendable by a reasoned decision to 30 days. Plan work-related D visas around the Unique Permit timetable: AKPA, the ministry and the police each have up to two weeks, and the whole procedure up to 12 weeks.

An approved electronic visa is generated with an electronic stamp and sent to your email; you print it and carry it when entering and leaving Albania. If you chose a sticker visa, you collect it at the mission. A visa is not a guarantee of entry: border officers check the entry conditions again. Holders of a D/PM or D/PS visa for employment are sent a provisional residence permit automatically after their entry is registered at the border, and are notified within two months whether the Unique Permit is approved.

A refusal is notified through e-Visa with its legal grounds. You may appeal within 5 working days of receiving it to the Directorate for Consular Affairs of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, which is the only authority competent to review visa appeals; the email subject must read "Visa Refusal Appeal" with your name, surname and application code, and the appeal must contain arguments and evidence. If the appeal is rejected you may reapply only three months after the refusal and must declare the refusal in every later application.