The Albanian single permit and the employer procedure behind it

The leje unike is the one document that carries both the right to reside in Albania and the right to work for a named employer. The application is filed online on the e-Albania portal, the employment approval comes from the National Employment and Skills Agency, and the permit itself is issued by the local border and migration authority.

The legal base is law no. 79/2021 on foreigners, amended by law no. 43/2025 of 26 June 2025, together with Council of Ministers decision no. 858 of 29 December 2021. Article 56, point 4, sets the rule that the application is examined and the single permit issued within four weeks of the filing date, once the statutory criteria are met. That is a legal ceiling, not a speed promise. The clock only runs on a complete file, and one missing document keeps an application outside the four weeks for weeks on end.

Who decides, and inside which deadline

Two authorities split the decision. Under article 74, points 2 and 3, the application is examined by AKPA and by the local border and migration authority, and the latter issues the single permit only after AKPA has given its employment approval. An employer who plans only the residence half is planning half the file.

The joint instruction of the minister responsible for the economy and innovation and the minister responsible for internal affairs, adopted in August 2026, cut the AKPA response to one working day. The previous joint instruction no. 3 of 11 January 2023 allowed ten working days for the same step.

What the employer declares, and what it costs

The August 2026 instruction introduced a standardised job offer form. The employer declares the gross monthly salary, working hours, overtime and how it is paid, night work and rest days, and whether accommodation and meals are covered. The employer also declares that the foreign worker will not receive conditions less favourable than an Albanian worker in the same position, and that the worker will pay no fees or costs for the recruitment process. That last line puts recruitment cost on the employer, the same principle that governs the Asian corridors described in ethical recruitment from Nepal.

The recurring cost is not the document fee. It is payroll. Since 1 January 2026 the Albanian minimum wage is 50,000 lekë gross per month and serves as the minimum contribution base. On gross pay the employer pays 16.7 percent in contributions, 15 percent social insurance and 1.7 percent health insurance, while 11.2 percent is withheld from the worker. For a job paid at the national average, which INSTAT put at 92,150 lekë gross per month in the second quarter of 2026, the employer contribution passes 15,000 lekë a month.

Before approval can be requested, the vacancy has to be public. Article 74, point 9, requires the vacancy to stay published on the employment services portal for no fewer than five calendar days, renewals excepted. Point 11 of the same article requires the posting to have been made no later than 90 days before the approval request is filed. That phase is set out in AKPA employment approval and the vacancy rule.

Where the file stalls

Article 75 lists the grounds for refusing approval, and most of them are inside the employer's control. AKPA refuses when documents are not filed electronically within the one week deadline from the request, when the employer is not registered with AKPA and has not published its vacancies, when wages fall below the level set by collective agreements, when the employer has unpaid social insurance contributions, when it is in insolvency proceedings, or when it carries out no economic activity at all.

The second of those is the most common failure. An employer without an active AKPA registration discovers the problem on the day the file is submitted, not during the weeks spent collecting the worker's documents. Against a refusal order, article 73, point 2, gives an administrative appeal that must be concluded within 30 days of filing, followed by an appeal to the administrative court. Thirty days of appeal on top of four weeks of examination is a lost season for a tourism role.

The Albanian single permit follows the same idea as the EU combined permit, one application and one document, described in the single permit explained, but with its own authorities and its own deadlines. How Werklist splits these duties with the employer is set out on the employers page.

For a start date in May, the file has to be complete in March, because the four weeks in article 56 are counted on a complete file and not from the day the employer decided to hire.