The invalidation and cancellation of unique permits in Albania

Unique permit is the permission issued by border and migration authorities for foreign citizens coming to Albania for work purposes.

Under what circumstances can the unique permit be invalidated?

The unique permit becomes invalid when:

• Its validity period cannot be renewed for any reason whatsoever;
• The temporary validity of the foreigner’s passport or identification document cannot be extended;
• The foreigner stays outside the territory of the Republic of Albania for more than 6 months without interruption, excluding cases of force majeure for this absence;
• The foreigner does not commence activity within 3 months from the date of issuance of the unique permit, excluding cases of force majeure for this absence;

In addition to the cases of invalidity, state authorities reserve the right to cancel the unique permit.

The cases of cancellation are:

• It has been obtained by providing false information or inaccurate documentation
• The foreigner acts or promotes against the sovereignty, order, and national security of the Republic of Albania.
• The foreigner is not present in the Republic of Albania for an uninterrupted period exceeding 180 days within 1 year of residence, except for cases expressly provided for by law.
• The foreigner engages in work other than that for which the unique permit was issued, excluding citizens with permanent residence permits;
• The foreign citizen terminates the employment contract

Important: Unemployment is not sufficient reason for the cancellation of the unique permit, except in cases where the period of unemployment continues:

• for three months within 12 months when the citizen has less than 3 years residing and working in Albania and
• for six months within 12 months when the citizen has more than 3 years residing and working in Albania.