Облегченная натурализация лиц без гражданства

Once vested, the formerly-stateless person holds Albanian nationality on an equal footing, and the route is embedded in a statute whose declared principles include “shmangien e pashtetësisë” (the avoidance of statelessness) and “të drejtën e çdo personi për të gëzuar të paktën një shtetësi” ( Neni 3(a)-(b)). Even before naturalisation, Kushtetuta Art 16(1) extends the full catalogue of fundamental rights and freedoms “edhe për të huajt e për personat pa shtetësi në territorin e Republikës së Shqipërisë,” so a stateless resident stands on constitutional footing while pursuing the route ( Kushtetuta Neni 16(1)). DUAL CITIZENSHIP is retained: Kushtetuta Art 19(2) permits loss ONLY by voluntary renunciation — “Shtetasi shqiptar nuk mund ta humbasë shtetësinë, përveçse kur ai heq dorë prej saj” — and the permissive lineage runs from Dekret 255/1992 through Ligj 8389/1998 Art 3 (“Shtetasi shqiptar mundet të jetë edhe shtetas i një shteti tjetër”) to statutory silence in 113/2020. This is a positive confirmation, not an inference from silence alone. TREATY UNDERPINNING: Albania is a party to the 1954 Convention (accession 23.6.2003) and to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (accession 9.7.2003), recorded by ENS as having direct effect, which frame both the Art 8(2) definition and the Art 7 anti-statelessness safeguard. As of 2026-07-11.

The facilitation reduces the CONDITION SET, not the residence period. Ordinary naturalization under Art 8(1) requires the full letter catalogue (a)-(ë); Art 8(2) waives (a) age-18, (b) legal capacity, (ç) conforming housing, (d) sufficient lawful income and (e) Albanian-language-and-history knowledge, leaving only three conditions the stateless applicant must satisfy. Condition (c) is imported IN FULL — continuous lawful residence “për jo më pak se 7 (shtatë) vjet” plus a permanent residence permit valid “në momentin e paraqitjes së kërkesës, sipas ligjit për të huajt” — so the seven-year clock and the permanent-permit prerequisite are untouched, and the widely-repeated “reduced years for stateless persons” premise has no textual footing and is refuted ( Neni 8(1)(c)). Condition (dh) is the criminal bar keyed to offences for which “ligji shqiptar parashikon dënime me jo më pak se 3 (tre) vjet heqje lirie,” with a politically-motivated-conviction exception only. Condition (ë) is the public-order/national-security clause: “nuk përbën kërcënim për rendin publik dhe siguriën kombëtare.” The (dh)/(ë) pair is the cross-route reduced-conditions pair of the 2020 Act — the only conditions imported by Neni 6(2), the pair required by Art 8/a(4), and part of the sets for Neni 16 and Art 8(2) ( Neni 6(2)/Neni 16). NO renunciation of prior citizenship is required: the exhaustive Art 8(1) list contains no such condition, and none appears in Arts 6, 8/a, 9, 10, 11 or 16. All temporal qualifiers as of 2026-07-11.

Documentation per category is set by Udhëzim i Ministrit të Brendshëm nr. 65, datë 4.2.2021 (as amended by Udhëzim nr. 197, datë 12.4.2021) — the decoded operative baseline. Its Kreu II pika 2 (“Person pa shtetësi”) prescribes a stateless-specific document set: an application to the President; a notarised copy of the permanent residence permit; the AKM 7-year residence attestation; criminal-record certificates from the country of origin, any third state and the state of the last six months' lawful stay (“dëshmi e gjendjes gjyqësore”); a written opinion of the local police commissariat; three photographs; and a payment receipt — pointedly OMITTING the A2 language certificate, housing act and income proofs demanded of ordinary applicants. FEE: 10,000 lekë for acquisition (fitim) at State Police application offices per Udhëzim nr. 271, datë 1.7.2021, non-refundable on withdrawal (“Tarifa e paguar nuk kthehet”), under the Art 17(3) cost-of-service cap; this decoded gazette figure displaces any stale 5,000-lekë figure. CHANNEL: in W6a the file went to local State Police structures; since 21.6.2024 Ligj 77/2023 routes filing online “nëpërmjet platformës elektronike ‘e-albania’” addressed to the President. CHAIN: police verification and forwarding within one month, ministry review “brenda 6 (gjashtë) muajve” (Neni 18(3)), presidential decree within sixty days (Neni 20(1)), Fletore Zyrtare publication, then oath. CURRENCY CAVEAT: Ligj 77/2023 Neni 8 mandated a NEW joint MoI+MFA instruction within 15 days of 21.6.2024; that successor instruction is unlocated, so W6b/W6c documentation content is asserted only on the 65/2021 baseline. As of 2026-07-11.

The route rests on Ligj nr. 113/2020 “Për shtetësinë,” Art 8(2), which sits in the acquisition chapter (Kreu II) at Neni 8 and expressly makes a stateless person eligible on a reduced condition set: “Në rast se personi është pa shtetësi, ai mund ta fitojë shtetësinë shqiptare nëse plotëson kushtet e përcaktuara në shkronjat ‘c’, ‘dh’ dhe ‘ë’ të pikës 1 të këtij neni” ( Neni 8(2)). “Person pa shtetësi” is a defined term: Art 2(dh) binds it to the meaning in Law nr. 9057, datë 24.4.2003, Albania's accession law to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons ( Neni 2 shkronja dh;). The constitutional overlay is protective: Kushtetuta Art 3(a) guarantees the right to at least one nationality and Art 19(2) permits loss only by voluntary renunciation. Upstream, the Law on Foreigners regime supplies the statelessness-determination procedure that produces the recognised status feeding the route: Ligj 79/2021 Neni 54(1) directs that “Kërkesa për të vërtetuar nëse aplikanti është person pa shtetësi i paraqitet autoritetit përgjegjës për shtetësinë në ministrinë përgjegjëse për rendin dhe sigurinë publike” (native text; the official English omits “për shtetësinë”), Neni 54(2) BARS that request from an alien who has applied for international protection, has been recognised as a refugee, or has been granted asylum, complementary or supplementary protection, and Neni 54(3) delegates the application, assessment, approval and refusal procedure to an instruction of that minister ( Neni 54). The date on which that Neni 54(3) instruction became operational (reported as mid-2023) rests on a T2 survey alone and is pinned to no primary instrument. Continuity is exact: Ligj 77/2023 and Ligj 49/2026 left Art 8(2) verbatim intact — Ligj 49/2026 Neni 1 repealed only 8(3) (“Pika 3 e nenit 8 shfuqizohet”). The rule is NOT in Neni 12, which opens the loss chapter (“Humbja e shtetësisë”); any “Neni 12 stateless route” reading is a positive misread. As of 2026-07-11.

GRANT: the President of the Republic issues the decree — “Presidenti i Republikës brenda 60 (gjashtëdhjetë) ditëve nxjerr dekretin përkatës” ( Neni 20(1)). PROPOSING/REVIEWING BODY: the Ministry of the Interior reviews the documentation “brenda 6 (gjashtë) muajve” and proposes the decree to the President (Neni 18(3)). INTAKE/VERIFICATION: the State Police structures receive the file and the local police commissariat issues the written conduct opinion; since 21.6.2024 filing is via the e-Albania electronic platform addressed to the President. RESIDENCE ATTESTATION: the Autoriteti i Kufirit dhe Migracionit (AKM) certifies the seven-year continuous lawful residence. STATUS-RECOGNITION: under Ligj 79/2021 Neni 54(1) the request to be recognised as a stateless person is filed with the citizenship-competent authority at the ministry responsible for public order and public safety (Ministry of the Interior); Neni 54(2) bars that request to applicants for international protection, recognised refugees and holders of asylum, complementary or supplementary protection; and Neni 54(3) delegates the application, assessment, approval and refusal procedure to that minister's instruction ( Neni 54(1)/(2)/(3)). FEE-SETTING: the Minister of the Interior with the Ministry of Finance and Economy under Art 17(3) (Udhëzim 271/2021). OATH: administered before the mayor (kryetari i bashkisë) per Udhëzim 65/2021 Kreu IX. DEFINITIONS AUTHORITY: “person pa shtetësi” per Law 9057/2003, Albania's 1954-Convention accession law. JUDICIAL REVIEW: the Administrative Court of First Instance Tirana under Art 19/1 since 21.6.2024 (see litigation_posture). As of 2026-07-11.

PRIMARY (decoded verbatim).: Ligj 113/2020 “Për shtetësinë,” FZ 2020/174 (Neni 8(2), 8(1)(c)/(dh)/(ë), Neni 2 shkronja dh/ç, Neni 3, Neni 6(2), Neni 7(1), Neni 12, Neni 16, Neni 18(3), Neni 20(1), Neni 22(1)).: Kushtetuta e Republikës së Shqipërisë consolidated (Neni 3, Neni 16(1), Neni 19(2)).: Ligj 77/2023, FZ 2024/95 (Art 17 e-Albania; Neni 7 inserting Neni 19/1; Neni 8 joint-instruction mandate).: Udhëzim i MB nr. 65, datë 4.2.2021 (Kreu II pika 2 stateless document set; Kreu IX betimi).: Udhëzim nr. 197, datë 12.4.2021 (amending 65/2021).: Udhëzim nr. 271, datë 1.7.2021 (fees — 10,000 lekë fitim).: Ligj 8389/1998 (Art 3 dual citizenship; Art 9 historical stateless facilitation).: Ligj 49/2026 (Neni 1 repeal of 8(3)).: Ligj 79/2021 “Për të huajt,” native Albanian text consolidated through Ligj 43/2025 (Neni 54 statelessness-determination procedure; Neni 52(1)(ç) humanitarian type-“A” permit; Neni 55(1) stateless temporary residence permit) — the native text controls over the defective official English rendering. EXTERNAL/SUPPORTING:/024/103/104 (UNTC 1954/1961 Convention status pages), (ENS Statelessness Index — Albania), (MEPJ consular tariff schedule), (GLOBALCIT-CR 2021/5). EVIDENCE: 041, 043, 044, 047, 048, 068, 105, 118, 121. Not legal advice; verify current documentation with the Ministry of the Interior / e-Albania before reliance. As of 2026-07-11.