A month in Albania

Albania's foreigners law lets visa-exempt visitors stay up to 90 days in any 180, and a visitor who has used the 90 days may come back once the 180-day period ends. UK travel advice adds that a longer stay needs a long-stay visa applied for in advance or a residence permit applied for from inside Albania.

US citizens are often told they may stay a year without a visa. The law allows exceptions to the 90 days by government decision, but we could not confirm a one-year rule on an official page as of September 2026, so check with an Albanian embassy before counting on it.

For remote workers the same law created a single residence permit for digital nomads, issued for up to one year the first time. It asks for a lawful stay, a work contract with an employer abroad or a service contract with clients abroad, enough income, accommodation and an address in Albania, health insurance valid for at least a year and a criminal record certificate from the home country.

As a rule, a foreigner notifies the border and migration police of the address within 10 days of entry, with the passport details and the expected end of the stay, and again within 10 days of moving. The host, an employer or an inviter can do it on the guest's behalf, so ask the host who will. Some nationalities are exempt by government decision, and that list was not verified.

Hotels and holiday centres must report foreign guests' arrivals and departures, and the law bars renting property to a foreigner who has no valid travel document, visa or residence permit. A host who asks for the passport is following the law.

The hotel accommodation tax is charged per night in hotels, motels, guesthouses, family tourism and any other accommodation unit. In Tirana that means 140 lek a night in most places and 350 lek in 4 and 5 star hotels, for every night of the month, collected by the municipality's General Directorate of Local Taxes and Tariffs. Whether private apartments let through the platforms collect it was not verified, so read the price breakdown.

Tirana suits a month with a car: the airport is 17 km away, and the municipal car parks sell subscriptions for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months.

Sarandë is the southern town the tourism agency counts among Albania's main tourist centres, with Ksamil, Butrint and the Blue Eye close by, but the agency also calls it a destination for seasonal tourism, and its parking rules could not be verified. Berat's new town, the agency says, has accommodation and services next to the old quarters, about 123 km from Tirana by road. Gjirokastër, about 53 km from Sarandë, shares Berat's UNESCO listing for its historic centre and suits a month inland.

Airbnb calls 28 nights or more a monthly stay. It charges the first month up front and releases it to the host 24 hours after check-in, then charges each later month 10 days before it starts. How other platforms label long stays in Albania was not verified as of September 2026.

Counting on a one-year stay without checking. It was not confirmed on an official page as of September 2026, and the law's default is 90 days in 180.

Moving flats without a new address notice. The law gives 10 days from a change of address.

Relying on the Tirana parking SMS with a foreign SIM. It was not verified that it works, and the municipal car parks are the alternative.

Driving the Riviera road after dark. UK travel advice warns of unlit roads, unmarked roadworks and vehicles without lights.