Intra corporate transfer to Albania: moving a manager or specialist from headquarters
Law no. 79/2021 treats the intra corporate transfer as its own category, and AKPA examines the file within one working day of assessing the application.
An intra corporate transfer moves a manager, a specialist or a trainee from a group company outside Albania to the Albanian entity of the same group, while the employment contract stays with the sending employer. Law no. 79/2021 on foreigners treats this as a category of its own, with its own file, and not as ordinary local employment.
Why the category matters before you open the file
Law no. 79/2021, updated in 2025, splits work authorisations by the purpose of stay. Alongside ordinary employees, it recognises seasonal workers, volunteers, athletes, contractual service providers and the intra corporate transfer. The category is not a formality: it decides which documents are required, which article governs the residence side, and whether prior employment approval is needed at all.
The joint instruction of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation and the Ministry of Interior, issued in 2026, widened the list with four further categories: the self employed, cross border workers, professional trainees and domestic workers. For an international group this means a person posted to Tirana may plausibly fall into more than one category, and the wrong choice on e-Albania sends the file back to the start.
The practical difference from local hiring sits in the employment relationship. In an intra corporate transfer the contract remains with the sending company abroad, and the Albanian entity receives the person for a defined assignment, usually unit management, specific technical knowledge or an internal training programme. The file therefore has to prove two things an ordinary file never proves: the ownership or control link between the two companies, and the person's prior period of employment inside the group.
Who decides, within which deadline, and at what cost
The application is filed on the e-Albania portal and processed in the FER-TIMS system, where documents are verified electronically between institutions. For categories that need employment approval, the file is examined by the National Employment and Skills Agency, either its central structure or the regional one covering the place where the employer operates. Under the instruction published in the Official Gazette in 2026, that examination is completed within 1 working day of the assessment of the application, replacing the earlier multi day review.
Before applying, the employer has to advertise the vacancy so that Albanian nationals and lawfully resident foreigners can apply for it. The advertising rule applies even when the person was chosen inside the group months earlier, and failing it is the most frequent reason a file comes back. The full mechanism is set out in the AKPA employment approval and the vacancy rule.
The residence side is covered by the single permit, governed by the Ministry of Interior procedures as updated by Council of Ministers decision no. 240 of 1 April 2026. The AKPA employment approval itself carries no fee, so the real cost of a transfer sits in the residence permit, the legalisation and translation of foreign documents, and the criminal record certificate. Current figures per item are in the cost and timeline of hiring a foreign worker.
| Element | Local hire of a foreign national | Intra corporate transfer |
|---|---|---|
| Employment contract | With the Albanian employer | Stays with the sending company |
| Proof of the group link | Not required | Required (ownership or control) |
| Prior employment in the group | Not required | Required before the transfer |
| Vacancy advertising | Required | Required |
| AKPA examination | 1 working day after assessment | 1 working day after assessment |
| Final document | Single permit | Single permit under the ICT category |
The file, and where it stalls
Besides the e-Albania form, a transfer file carries the assignment letter stating the role, the location and the duration, commercial register extracts for both companies, proof of the prior employment relationship, the professional qualification for the position, and a passport with sufficient validity. Documents issued abroad must arrive apostilled and translated by a licensed translator.
Three points stall the file most often. The first is a start date in the assignment letter that falls before the permit issue date, which forces the employer to reissue the document. The second is a job description that does not match the position as advertised, because the reviewer reads both at the same time. The third is a register extract for the sending company that does not clearly show the ownership link, which happens when the group holds the Albanian entity through an intermediate company in a third jurisdiction.
For the single permit itself, the shared steps of filing, submission and collection are the same as in any other category and are described in the Albanian single permit procedure.
An intra corporate transfer to Albania is more documentary work than decision making. A 1 working day examination deadline means the real time is spent preparing the file, legalising foreign documents and advertising the vacancy, not waiting for an answer from AKPA.
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