Закон 8389/1998 года (первый посткоммунистический закон о гражданстве)

The defining status feature of the 1998 regime is UNCONDITIONAL DUAL CITIZENSHIP. Neni 3 states without qualification: “Shtetasi shqiptar mundet te jete edhe shtetas i nje shteti tjeter” — from 5.8.1998 an Albanian could simultaneously hold another nationality, with no renunciation of the prior citizenship required to naturalize and no automatic loss on acquiring a foreign one ( Neni 3). This 1998 rule is the pivot of the permissive lineage that runs through to the present: it opened unconditional duality (widening the narrower 1992 origin-only dual opening), and Ligj 113/2020 carried the same tolerance forward by SILENCE — its exhaustive naturalization catalogue contains no renunciation condition, so today’s naturalized Albanian likewise keeps any existing nationality (the modern positive floor being Kushtetuta Neni 19(2)). The 1998 law paired this with two anti-statelessness safeguards. Neni 4 barred arbitrary deprivation (“Askujt nuk mund t’i hiqet arbitrarisht shtetesia shqiptare”) and permitted voluntary renunciation of Albanian citizenship ONLY on condition that the person already held, had acquired, or was guaranteed another citizenship — a no-statelessness condition preserved in substance by later law. Neni 5 required, for any change in the citizenship of minors, the parents’ approval, and additionally “pelqimin e femijes” (the child’s consent) for children aged 14–18 — a child-participation principle that predates and was carried into the 113/2020 framework ( Neni 4, Neni 5). Because the route is repealed, these are described as the historical status rules of the W5 era, not as live entitlements; anyone whose Albanian citizenship was acquired under the 1998 law retains it under 113/2020 Neni 2 continuity, but new claims proceed only under the current statute.

The 1998 law set out every acquisition mode across Nenet 7–12, most tightened relative to today. BIRTH (Neni 7): a child acquired citizenship where both parents were Albanian (pika 1); where one parent was Albanian AND the child was born in Albanian territory, UNLESS the parents jointly opted for the other parent’s citizenship (pika 2 — “Perjashtohen rastet kur prinderit, bashkerisht, vendosin qe femija te fitoje shtetesine e prindit tjeter”); where born abroad to one Albanian parent and the other parent was unknown or stateless (pika 3, unconditional); or where born abroad to one Albanian parent and a foreign-citizen parent but “te dy prinderit bien dakord” that the child take Albanian citizenship (pika 4) — a consent condition that Ligj 113/2020 Neni 5 later removed, making one-parent transmission unconditional and vetiu ( Neni 7). JUS SOLI (Neni 8): a foundling of unknown parents born in Albania who would otherwise be stateless acquired citizenship (8(1)); and a child born in Albania to lawfully-resident foreign parents could acquire it “me pelqimin e te dy prinderve” (8(2)) — the 1998 analogue of today’s Art 7(3) jus-soli-by-consent (route notes). NATURALIZATION (Neni 9): a foreigner qualified on cumulative conditions — age 18 (pika 1); lawful continuous residence “per jo me pak se 5 vjet” (pika 2); housing and sufficient income (pika 3); a criminal bar for offences carrying “jo me pak se 3 vjet heqje lirie”, waived only where the conviction was proven politically motivated (pika 4); “njohuri, te pakten fillestare, te gjuhes shqipe” (pika 5); and no prejudice to Albania’s security and defence (pika 6). Neni 9 pika 7 added a national-interest track waiving all conditions except security where Albania had a scientific, economic, cultural and national interest — the predecessor of today’s state-interest naturalization; stateless applicants were relieved of conditions 1, 3, 4 and 5, and persons of Albanian origin “deri ne dy shkalle, qofte edhe nga njeri prind” received a reduced residence period ( Neni 9,; see residence_requirements). MARRIAGE (Neni 10): a foreigner married to an Albanian for not less than 3 years could naturalize without meeting Neni 9 pikat 2 and 5, provided at least one year of continuous lawful residence. MINORS (Neni 11): where both parents naturalized, their under-18 child became Albanian on the parents’ request plus the child’s consent if aged 14–18; the ONE-parent case was narrower than today — available only where the other parent was stateless and the child domiciled in Albania. ADOPTION (Neni 12): adoption by two Albanian parents transmitted citizenship; the one-Albanian-adopter case was conditioned on BOTH adopting parents residing in Albanian territory at adoption, plus the statelessness-risk case.

As the first citizenship statute of the post-communist era, the 1998 law carried only a thin procedural core in its own text and delegated operational detail to subordinate acts; this route therefore documents the statutory mechanics that appear on the face of Ligj 8389/1998, not a live filing pathway. MINORS’ CONSENT (Neni 5): any change in a minor’s citizenship required the parents’ approval, with the additional consent of a child aged 14–18 — a procedural precondition applied across the acquisition and renunciation tracks. REVOCATION OF THE GRANT (Neni 13): “Vendimi per dhenien e shtetesise shqiptare mund te revokohet nese vertetohet se i huaji ose personi pa shtetesi, me vetedije, kerkesen.. e ka bazuar ne te dhena te pasakta ose ne dokumente te falsifikuara” — a naturalization decision obtained by knowingly false data or forged documents could be revoked, and Neni 13 extended that revocation to under-18 children who had acquired citizenship together with their parents, always subject to the child’s interest and to the no-statelessness safeguard ( Neni 13). WINDOW DISCIPLINE ON FEES: the 1998 statute did not itself fix an application fee, and no historical fee figure from this era is asserted as current. The OPERATIVE naturalization fee today is 10,000 leke under Udhezim i perbashket nr. 271, date 1.7.2021, issued under the current law — the “5,000 leke” ). By deliberate contrast, the modern procedural chain that did NOT exist in the same form under 1998 — e-Albania online filing, presidential decree within statutory deadlines, publication in Fletorja Zyrtare, and the loyalty oath before the mayor on pain of decree ineffectiveness — belongs entirely to Ligj 113/2020 and its amendments and is documented on the operative routes ( Nenet 20–22). Any person seeking Albanian citizenship must proceed under the current statute, not this repealed regime.

AL-HIS-05 documents the FIRST post-communist Albanian citizenship statute, Ligj nr. 8389, date 5.8.1998 “Per shtetesine shqiptare” (Fletorja Zyrtare 1998/21, f. 845), enacted by the Kuvendi Popullor i Republikes se Shqiperise on the proposal of the Council of Ministers under nenit 16 of Ligj 7491/1991 “Per dispozitat kryesore kushtetuese” (the interim constitutional charter that preceded the 1998 Constitution), and amended once — by Ligj 8442, date 21.1.1999 ( preambula). It is a historical_regime route (acquisition_type=historical_regime): the entire 1998 framework was operative 5.8.1998–14.10.2020 and was REPEALED IN FULL by Ligj 113/2020 Neni 25 — “Ligji nr.8389, date 5.8.1998, ‘Per shtetesine shqiptare’, i ndryshuar.. shfuqizohen” ( Neni 25) — so operative_today=false and no application can be lodged under it. Neni 1 defines Albanian citizenship as “nje lidhje e qendrueshme juridike” acquired, reacquired, lost or renounced only under the law, and Neni 2 preserved the citizenship of every person who held it at entry into force. The statute’s signature feature is Neni 3: “Shtetasi shqiptar mundet te jete edhe shtetas i nje shteti tjeter” — unconditional dual citizenship from 5.8.1998, the direct ancestor of the dual-citizenship default carried silently into Ligj 113/2020 (see rights_and_status). Neni 6 fixed three acquisition modes — lindje (birth), natyralizim, biresim (adoption) — the 1998 predecessors of the five modes in 113/2020 Neni 4. This route is the W5 predecessor layer against which every current AL route measures its continuity.

The authorities relevant to AL-HIS-05 are principally LEGISLATIVE, because the route documents a repealed statute rather than a live administrative pathway. ENACTING AUTHORITY: Ligj 8389/1998 was adopted by the Kuvendi Popullor i Republikes se Shqiperise, on the proposal of the Council of Ministers, under the enabling power of nenit 16 of Ligj 7491/1991 “Per dispozitat kryesore kushtetuese” — the interim constitutional charter in force before the 1998 Constitution ( preambula). AMENDING AUTHORITY: the same legislature amended the law once, by Ligj 8442, date 21.1.1999, which remained its sole statutory modification across the W5 window. REPEALING AUTHORITY: the Kuvendi (the post-1998 unicameral Assembly) repealed the statute in full through Ligj 113/2020 Neni 25, effective 14.10.2020 ( Neni 25). GRANT AND REVOCATION: within its own text the 1998 law refers to “vendimi per dhenien e shtetesise shqiptare” (the decision granting citizenship) and to its revocation for fraud (Neni 13) without, in the decoded transcription, naming the specific decreeing organ inside Nenet 9–13 — so no grant-authority beyond the statutory decision-maker is asserted for this era. By contrast, the SUCCESSOR authority architecture under Ligj 113/2020 vests the grant in the President of the Republic (Neni 20), with the responsible Ministry of Interior citizenship structure processing files and the mayor administering the loyalty oath (Nenet 21–22); those modern authorities govern all current applications and are documented on the operative routes, not here ( Nenet 20–22). As of the repeal, the 1998 authorities have no continuing decisional role.

PRIMARY (decoded verbatim from Fletorja Zyrtare).: Ligj nr. 8389, date 5.8.1998 “Per shtetesine shqiptare” (FZ 1998/21, f. 845) — the REPEALED regime documented by this route, decoded in full (Nenet 1–5 general provisions; Neni 6 acquisition modes; Neni 7 birth; Neni 8 jus soli; Neni 9 naturalization incl. national-interest, stateless and two-degree-origin paragraphs; Neni 10 marriage; Neni 11 minors; Neni 12 adoption; Neni 13 revocation; Neni 14 reacquisition; Neni 15 loss); sole amendment Ligj 8442/21.1.1999.: Ligj 113/2020 “Per shtetesine” (FZ 2020/174) — the OPERATIVE successor statute, cited here for the repeal (Neni 25), the unconditional one-parent birth rule (Neni 5), the standalone three-degree origin mode (Neni 4(b), Neni 6), the seven-year residence rule (Neni 8(1)(c)), and the transitional bridge (Neni 23). SECONDARY / STAGING: (Ligj 8389/1998 native text, GLOBALCIT NationalDB transcription) and (GLOBALCIT-CR 2021/5 decoded staging) corroborate the 1998 text and carry the OCR lacuna flagged at. IMPLEMENTING (current, for window-discipline fee only): Udhezim 271/2021 (operative fee 10,000 leke). EVIDENCE assertions consolidated into this route:,,. All pins were re-checked in-file during consolidation. Not legal advice; this route is a historical record of a repealed statute — any current Albanian citizenship claim proceeds under Ligj 113/2020 as amended, verified with the Ministry of Interior.