Nearly 39,000 foreign nationals registered in Albania, 60% of them to work! The highest number of residence permits is held by…

By June 2026, nearly 40,000 foreign nationals were registered in Albania, with more than half of them staying in the country to work.

Specifically, according to State Police data for Monitor, as of June 30, 2026, a total of 38,712 approved residence permits had been registered for foreign nationals.

By nationality, citizens of Kosovo held the highest number of permits, with 7,302, accounting for around 19% of the total active residence permits.

They were followed by Italian citizens, with 4,332 residence permits, or 11% of the total. The number of residence permits for Indian citizens reached 3,882, accounting for 10% of the total, followed by the Philippines with 3,638 permits (9.3% of the total) and Egypt with 3,441, or 8% of the active permits.

Employment remains the main reason foreign nationals stay in Albania. According to the data, the largest number of residence permits consists of unified permits for employees and unified permits for self-employed individuals.

For both categories, their number reached 22,693 employment permits by June 2026, accounting for 59% of the total residence permits.

Among foreign nationals holding unified employee permits, citizens of the Philippines, India and Egypt ranked highest. Together, these countries had 10,258 approved unified employee permits, accounting for around 50% of those employed in the country.

They were followed by permits for family reunification. By June 2026, their number had reached 7,124 active permits, accounting for 18% of the total active residence permits.

Family reunification permits were dominated by citizens of Kosovo, with 2,978 permits, accounting for around 42% of the total permits issued for family reunification.

Italian citizens also had a considerable number of family reunification permits. Their number reached 783, or 11% of the family reunification permits. They were followed by Turkish citizens, who held 518 residence permits, or 7% of the total permits in this category.

Meanwhile, the number of permits issued for study reached 1,261, accounting for 3% of the total active permits. In this category, Italian citizens ranked highest, with 462 permits, accounting for around 37% of them.

They were followed by Indian citizens. A total of 426 Indian citizens held study permits, accounting for 34% of the total in this permit category.

For permits issued on humanitarian grounds, the highest number was recorded among Iranian citizens, whose number reached 2,440, while citizens of other countries accounted for a significantly lower number in this category./Monitor