Натурализация беженцев/дополнительная защита

A refugee naturalized under Neni 11 acquires full Albanian nationality on an equal footing, expressly protected against status-based discrimination. Kushtetuta Neni 3(ç) principle and Ligj 113/2020 Neni 3(ç) bar discrimination against Albanian nationals “pavarësisht nëse ata janë shtëtas që nga lindja apo e kanë fituar shtëtësinë shqiptare sipas këtij ligji”, and Neni 2(ë) defines Albanian nationality as a durable legal bond that “nuk tregon origjinën etnike të personit” — it does not mark the holder's ethnic origin ( Neni 2(ë), Neni 3(ç)). DUAL CITIZENSHIP IS RETAINED AS OF RIGHT: no renunciation-of-prior-citizenship requirement exists anywhere in Ligj 113/2020 — the exhaustive Neni 8(1)/Neni 11(1) condition lists contain none, and none appears in Arts 6, 8/a, 9, 10, 11 or 16. The permissive lineage is positive, not merely inferred from silence: Dekret 255/1992 opened dual citizenship for Albanian-origin aliens, Ligj 8389/1998 Neni 3 made it unconditional — “Shtetasi shqiptar mundet të jetë edhe shtëtas i një shteti tjetër” ( Ligj 8389/1998 Neni 3) — and 113/2020's silence carries it forward, underwritten by Kushtetuta Neni 19(2): “Shtetasi shqiptar nuk mund ta humbasë shtëtësinë, përveçse kur ai heq dorë prej saj” ( Kushtetuta Neni 19(2)). Loss of the acquired nationality is therefore possible only by voluntary renunciation (Neni 12–13), or, for naturalized persons specifically, by deprivation on the narrow Neni 15 grounds (fraudulent documents within a 10-year window, or activity against national/constitutional security) subject to the statelessness safeguard. The 1954 Refugee Convention Art 34 facilitation duty (Albania party 2003) is honored through these non-durational facilitations plus the Art 17(3) fee cost-cap, not through a shortened residence term. As of 2026-07-11.

Neni 11(1) imposes a closed catalogue of cumulative conditions on the refugee or subsidiary-protection applicant: (a) age 18 (“ka mbushur moshën 18 (tetëmbëdhjetë) vjeç”); (b) legal capacity to act (“ka zotësi juridike për të vepruar”); (c) lawful stay and continuous residence “për jo më pak se 7 (shtatë) vjet në territorin e Republikës së Shqipërisë nga dita e komunikimit të vendimit për dhënien e statusit nga autoriteti përgjegjës për azilin e refugjatët” ( Neni 11(1)(c)); (ç) adequate housing; (d) lawful income “or” resources sufficient for living — “disponon të ardhura ose burime financiare të ligjshme”, a disjunctive, un-indexed test lighter than the ordinary Neni 8(1)(d) ISSH-indexed standard ( Neni 11(1)(d)); (dh) a criminal-conviction bar; (e) knowledge of the Albanian language plus basic knowledge of history and the Constitution; and (ë) no threat to public order or national security. Two of these were reworded by Ligj 77/2023 Neni 5 with effect from 21.6.2024. As enacted (W6a, 14.10.2020–20.6.2024) letter (dh) barred final convictions “në shtetin e vet, në Republikën e Shqipërisë ose në ndonjë shtet të tretë” for offences carrying ≥3 years; from 21.6.2024 (W6b) the amendment DROPPED the “në shtetin e vet” (own-state) limb — reaching only convictions “në Republikën e Shqipërisë ose në ndonjë shtet të tretë” — and added a political-motive exception “me përjashtim të rasteve kur vërtetohet se dënimi është dhënë për motive politike” ( Ligj 77/2023 Neni 5 — new 11(1)(dh)), a relaxation tied to the reality that refugees have fled their state of origin. Letter (e) was simultaneously reworded to require certification “të vërtetuar nga institucioni përkatës arsimor” while still demanding knowledge of history AND of the Constitution ( Ligj 77/2023 Neni 5 — new 11(1)(e)); critically, the Albanian-official-language exemption that Ligj 77/2023 grafted onto ordinary Art 8(1)(e) was NOT extended to Art 11(1)(e), so no language/history waiver reaches refugees. The 7-year clock in letter (c) is identical in duration to the ordinary Neni 8 — there is NO reduced refugee term — and it ran unbroken through W6a/W6b/W6c because Ligj 49/2026 left Neni 11 untouched ( Ligj 49/2026 Neni 1). The route covers refugees and subsidiary-protection holders equally. All temporal qualifiers as of 2026-07-11.

The residence gate is the defining feature of this route and its single sharpest facilitation. Letter (c) fixes “një periudhë të vazhdueshme për jo më pak se 7 (shtatë) vjet” of lawful continuous residence, but — unlike any other naturalization track — the clock is anchored not to a first residence permit but “nga dita e komunikimit të vendimit për dhënien e statusit nga autoriteti përgjegjës për azilin e refugjatët”, i.e. from the day the asylum authority communicates the status-grant decision ( Neni 11(1)(c)). The seven years are explicit and cannot be shortened by implication: all tiers converge that there is NO reduced refugee term — the duration equals the ordinary Neni 8. The genuine facilitation is STRUCTURAL: Neni 11(1)(c) omits the permanent-residence-permit precondition that ordinary Neni 8(1)(c) expressly appends (“si dhe ka përfituar leje të përhershme qëndrimi, të vlefshme në momentin e paraqitjes së kërkesës, sipas ligjit për të huajt”) ( Neni 8(1)(c) contrast). Because Neni 11(2) delegates to ministerial instruction only “dokumentacioni i nevojshëm” and not the substantive conditions, no udhëzim can lawfully add a permanent-permit CONDITION the statute omits. Yet a live statute-vs-instrument tension exists: Udhëzim 65/2021 Kreu IV/c nonetheless lists “leje e përhershme qëndrimi e lëshuar nga autoritetet kompetente në Republikën e Shqipërisë” in the refugee document set, so administrative practice imports the permit the statute leaves out — counsel should therefore secure the permanent permit even though letter (c) does not require it. The foreigners law Ligj 79/2021 supplies the residence substrate but grants NO citizenship-residence cut: Art 87(1)(dh) lets a recognised refugee obtain the permanent permit on the strength of status, Art 88 excludes pending subsidiary-protection applicants and asylum-seekers from the Art 87 terms, and the only half-time reckoning in that law (Art 87(2)) is for studies or vocational training, not refugees. Continuity of the 7-year period is proven at instrument level by the Autoriteti i Kufirit dhe Migracionit attestation required at Udhëzim 65/2021 Kreu IV/d. As of 2026-07-11.

Filing and documentation. Since 21.6.2024 the application is lodged online: Ligj 77/2023 Neni 6 rewrote Art 17(1) so that the request addressed to the President “depozitohen online nëpërmjet platformës elektronike ‘e-albania’” ( Ligj 77/2023 Neni 6). The refugee document set is governed by Udhëzim i Ministrit të Brendshëm nr. 65, datë 4.2.2021, Kreu IV (“DOKUMENTET QË KËRKOHEN PËR FITIMIN E SHTËTËSISË NGA REFUGJATËT, APO PERSONA NË MBROJTJE PLOTËSUESE”), as amended by Udhëzim nr. 197, datë 12.4.2021. Kreu IV itemises, among others: an A2 Albanian-language document plus a passed basic-history test (IV/b); a notarized permanent-residence permit (IV/c); an Autoriteti i Kufirit dhe Migracionit attestation of ≥7 years continuous lawful residence (IV/d); ONLY an Albanian criminal-record certificate — “vërtetim i gjendjes gjyqësore lëshuar në Republikën e Shqipërisë” (IV/h), not the origin/third-state set the ordinary Kreu II demands; and the notarized status-grant decision — “vendimi për fitimin e statusit (fotokopje e noterizuar)” (IV/i). Foreign-issued documents must be individually legalized, translated into Albanian, notarized, and be no older than six months (Kreu VII pika 5). Fee. Udhëzim nr. 271, datë 1.7.2021 (MoI + Ministry of Finance and Economy) Shtojca 1(A) pika 1 sets “Për aplikimin për fitimin e shtëtësisë shqiptare: 10000 lekë” at State Police application offices, with 30-euro consular tariffs for lënie/rifitim abroad, all under the Art 17(3) statutory cap “tarifa nuk mund të tejkalojë koston e shërbimit” ( Udhëzim 271/2021 Shtojca 1; Neni 17(3)) — the 10,000-lekë gazette figure refutes any stale 5,000-lekë figure. Decision chain (common to all routes): State Police verification, ministry review, presidential decree, publication in Fletorja Zyrtare and oath. Currency caveat: Ligj 77/2023 Neni 8 ordered a JOINT MoI+MFA instruction within 15 days of 21.6.2024 to implement the amended Art 17(2) e-filing; that successor instruction is unlocated after an exhaustive probe, so the W6b/W6c documentation content is asserted only per the decoded 65/2021+197/2021 baseline, with no claim about the new instruction's content. As of 2026-07-11.

AL-REF-01 rests on a discrete article of the Albanian citizenship statute, Ligj 113/2020 “Për shtëtësinë” Neni 11 (“Fitimi i shtëtësisë nga refugjatët apo personat në mbrojtje plëotësuese”), in force since 14.10.2020 (FZ 2020/174). Neni 11(1) opens “Shtëtësia shqiptare fitohet nga refugjati apo personi në mbrojtje plotësuese, që ka paraqitur kërkesë dhe plotëson kushtet e mëposhtme” ( Neni 11(1) hyrje;) — a distinct naturalization track for protected persons, not a mere documentary variant of the ordinary route. The beneficiary class is fixed by cross-reference: Neni 2(e) provides that “‘Refugjat dhe person në mbrojtje plotësuese’ është i njëjti kuptim sipas përkufizimit në ligjin për azilin në Republikën e Shqipërisë” ( Neni 2(e)), routing the definition to the asylum law (Ligj 10/2021). Constitutionally the grant sits under the Kushtetuta framework: Neni 3 principles guarantee “të drejtën e çdo personi për të gëzuar të paktën një shtëtësi” and the avoidance of statelessness ( Neni 3(a)-(b)), and Kushtetuta Neni 19(2) permits loss of Albanian nationality only by voluntary renunciation ( Kushtetuta Neni 19(2)). Substantively the article was amended once — Ligj 77/2023 Neni 5 reworded only letters (dh) and (e) of Neni 11(1), effective 21.6.2024 ( Ligj 77/2023 Neni 5) — and was left wholly intact by Ligj 49/2026, whose only citizenship-code change was “Pika 3 e nenit 8 shfuqizohet” and the insertion of a new Neni 8/a ( Ligj 49/2026 Neni 1). The necessary documentation is delegated by Neni 11(2) to a ministerial udhëzim (“Dokumentacioni i nevojshëm.. përcaktohet me udhëzim të ministrit”), not to the statute itself. Acquisition type: protected_person_naturalization; operative today.

Decision-makers and processing organs. The ASYLUM AUTHORITY (autoriteti përgjegjës për azilin e refugjatët, under Ligj 10/2021) is the antecedent authority: its status-grant decision both qualifies the applicant and starts the seven-year clock “nga dita e komunikimit të vendimit për dhënien e statusit” ( Neni 11(1)(c)). The MINISTER responsible for public order and security (“ministri përgjegjës për rendin dhe sigurinë publike”, per Neni 2(b)) owns the citizenship process and issues the implementing udhëzim under Neni 11(2). Applications are lodged online via e-Albania (Ligj 77/2023 Neni 6) and pass through the STATE POLICE local structures (“strukturat vendore përgjegjëse të Policës së Shtetit”, Neni 17–18). The AUTORITETI I KUFIRIT DHE MIGRACIONIT (Border and Migration Authority) issues the ≥7-year continuous-residence attestation (Udhëzim 65/2021 Kreu IV/d). The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC grants citizenship by decree (Kushtetuta Neni 92(c); Ligj 113/2020 Neni 20), published in Fletorja Zyrtare. FEE-SETTING is joint: Art 17(3) delegates the tariff to a joint instruction of the Minister and the minister responsible for finance, executed by Udhëzim 271/2021 (MoI + Ministry of Finance and Economy) — 10,000 lekë domestically. For the W6b/W6c e-filing documentation, Ligj 77/2023 Neni 8 assigned a JOINT instruction to the Minister of the Interior together with the MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (MFA), the successor instrument that remains unlocated. The civic-knowledge and language certificate is issued by “institucioni përkatës arsimor” (Neni 11(1)(e) as amended). Judicial authority: the Administrative Court of First Instance, Tirana (Neni 19/1). As of 2026-07-11.