Albania's bilateral labour agreements with Asian countries

Albania is moving the employment of foreign nationals from individual applications to intergovernmental agreements. Law no. 43/2025 of 26 June 2025 added point 1/1 to article 56 of law no. 79/2021, giving the Council of Ministers the power to conclude bilateral labour migration agreements.

Within thirty days of July 2026 that power was used twice. The memorandum with Vietnam was signed on 29 July 2026 and the memorandum with Indonesia a few days later, while negotiations with the Philippines continue for a far larger number of workers.

What has been signed so far

The Vietnam memorandum contains two clauses that bear directly on the employer's contract. The first is equal treatment on pay, working conditions and social benefits. The second is that recruitment and travel costs are covered by the employer before the worker departs.

The second principle is not new to the Asian corridors. It matches the standard applied in Nepal and set out in ethical recruitment at zero cost. What has changed is that it now sits in an intergovernmental instrument binding the destination, not only in the rules of the country of origin.

Why an agreement changes the order of candidates

The most concrete effect is not the promised headcount but the place in the priority order. Article 74, point 8, of law no. 79/2021 as amended requires the National Employment and Skills Agency, before approving the employment of a foreign national, to confirm whether the employer managed to mediate suitable candidates from several priority categories. Letter dh of that list covers nationals of countries with which Albania has signed bilateral or multilateral employment agreements.

In other words, an agreement lifts the country of origin into the same row as Albanian jobseekers and nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia. For an employer recruiting from a country outside that list, the mediation step stays in full.

An agreement does not remove the individual approval. Article 74, point 3, keeps the rule that the border and migration authority issues the single permit only after AKPA approval, except where the law, an intergovernmental agreement or a Council of Ministers decision provides otherwise. The exemption is possible, but it has to be written into the agreement itself.

Numbers against targets

The stated targets are far larger than the current market. According to AKPA, 22,600 foreign nationals were working in Albania in June 2026, up from about 18,100 in December 2025, while 18,156 employment requests were approved during 2025, a rise of 43.4 percent on 2024.

The breakdown shows the Asian corridors are already the main ones. In June 2026 the Philippines ranked first with 3,552 workers, or 16 percent of the total, followed by India with 3,423 and Egypt with 3,283. Indonesia, one of the two countries with a fresh memorandum, had 229 workers on the same date. The distance between 229 workers today and a stated target in the tens of thousands shows that an agreement is the start of a corridor, not proof of one.

The record of Nepal's agreements with Europe gives a benchmark for pace. The instruments signed from 2022 onwards, listed in Nepal's bilateral labour agreements with Europe, showed that several months usually pass between signature and the first placements, because implementation protocols, employer lists and verification channels have to follow.

Until those protocols take effect, the file follows the general rule: a vacancy public for at least five calendar days under article 74, point 9, AKPA approval within one working day under the joint instruction of August 2026, and a decision on the single permit within four weeks under article 56, point 4. The recurring cost stays payroll, 16.7 percent on gross pay with a minimum base of 50,000 lekë a month since 1 January 2026.

The repeal of annual quotas in June 2025, set out in Albania's repealed employment quotas, made the bilateral agreement the main policy instrument for labour migration. How Werklist works these Asian corridors is set out on the employers page.

A signed agreement changes the ranking of candidates and the allocation of costs, but it changes none of the deadlines in the file. Employers expecting a fast lane after signature are waiting for a protocol that has not been published.