Albanian single permit renewal and permanent residence: fees, terms and the five year rule

A single permit is renewed on the e-Albania portal at the local border and migration directorate for the place where the business operates. The renewal fee is 2,250 lek, half the 4,500 lek charged for a first permit, under Ministry of Interior practice for 2026. A permanent permit requires five years of lawful, uninterrupted residence.

The three permit types under law no. 79/2021

Law no. 79/2021 on foreigners recognises three types of residence permit, and the difference between them decides what happens at renewal.

A type A permit is issued for a fixed term and covers residence only, with no renewal on the same basis. A type B permit is renewable and is the form under which the employer's single permit circulates. A type C permit is permanent and needs no periodic renewal.

Within type B the law sets several terms. A permit of 3, 6 or 12 months may be renewed up to five times. A two year permit may be renewed once. There is also a five year permit, normally granted after a settled record of residence and employment. The type S seasonal permit follows its own rule: it is renewed only after a six month break outside the country, which makes it unusable for continuous year round employment.

Since 2025 the Ministry of Interior issues a temporary permit within one working day of filing, while the file is under review. The worker is therefore not left without a document during the review, but the temporary permit does not replace the final decision and does not extend the right to stay beyond it.

The five year rule and the word uninterrupted

The type C permanent permit is granted after five years of lawful, uninterrupted residence in Albania under law no. 79/2021. Both adjectives carry weight. Residence is lawful only where every period is covered by a valid permit; a gap of a few weeks between one permit expiring and the next being issued does not count and sends the clock back to zero for many applicants.

That is exactly where the common failure mode sits. The employer files the renewal a few days before expiry, the file comes back for a missing document, and the previous permit lapses in the meantime. The worker falls into irregular status, the employer is exposed to the illegal employment penalties, and the years accumulated towards permanent residence are lost. File at least 60 days before expiry so there is room for one correction cycle.

What the migration directorate checks at renewal

Renewal is not an automatic stamp. The local border and migration directorate checks that the employment contract is still in force, that social insurance contributions were paid for the whole previous period, that accommodation is declared, and that the worker has not spent longer outside the country than the law allows for continuity. Where the worker has changed employer, the file is treated as a new request and needs a fresh AKPA employment approval.

The base procedure for a first file, with the documents and the order of authorities, is set out in the Albanian single permit and the employer procedure. The seasonal case, which runs on different terms, is covered in the seasonal single permit for tourism. The full fee picture for the cycle is in the cost and timeline of hiring a foreign worker.

For an employer with several foreign workers, the practical method is one shared calendar of expiry dates, with a reminder 90 days out and a contributions check on the same day. That keeps the count towards the fifth year unbroken and removes the risk that a worker's file surfaces only when he can no longer come to work.