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According to the latest official rules (as of June 2021), EU nationals do not require type D visas to stay longer than 90 days. I found the PDF on this MFA webpage. Besides this, the second column (called "DIPLOMATIC MISSION THAT DEALS WITH YOUR VISA APPLICATION") for all EU countries is empty. The last column but one says that visa type D is not required for EU, Canadian and US citizens.

Am I right, that this table means that we may stay up to 1 year in Albania? Or that we should apply for visa, when already in the country?

In case I am wrong, is a border-run possible to reset the 90-days limit?

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  • Just saw your edit. You would not apply for a visa once you are in the country, you would apply for a residence permit. That's a common setup in EU/European countries and apparently Albanian rules are modelled after that.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 17, 2021 at 14:34
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    The US embassy in Albania does seem to suggest that US citizens may stay for up to one year without a visa nor a residence permit, see al.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/additional-resources/…
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 17, 2021 at 14:56

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There is a footnote regarding this column:

(***)Type D Visas are required for foreign citizens that intend to stay in Albania for more than 90 days during a six month period (90/180 days) and intend to apply for a Residence Permit at the relevant institution for migration.

Neither the website nor the document are explicit about this but it seems to imply that this column is about the requirement to secure a visa before entering the country and not about what you may need to do after entering. If you don't need a visa to enter, you may still need to apply for a residence permit to stay longer than 90 days. By contrast, citizens from other countries would not even be allowed to apply for that permit if they didn't secure the necessary visa beforehand.

In other words, EU citizens may not need a visa but they are still not necessarily allowed to stay indefinitely without any formality whatsoever. Beyond that, the US embassy does suggest that stays up to one year are in fact possible without a residence permit but it doesn't say where that limit is defined. In any case, this also confirms that the fact a D visa might not be required doesn't mean that anything goes.

Additionally, every discussion of short stays in these documents makes reference to a Schengen-style 90-days-in-any-180-days limit so I would assume that “border runs” are not supposed to be allowed. I have no idea how strictly this is enforced but the intent is clear.

Generally speaking, if Albania was keen on attracting extended stays or even residence from EU citizens and staying for one year or more was allowed without any formalities, I would expect official websites to state that in a straightforward way or even advertise it. Actively looking for some loophole or ambiguity in the rules because you really wished it were the case is not a good way to understand them.

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  • Thank you for your answer. What do you think about the second column being empty for all EU countries and the USA?
    – soshial
    Commented Aug 17, 2021 at 14:17
  • @soshial What about it? If you don't need a visa, you don't need to know where you need to apply for it. It still doesn't mean you can stay indefinitely, that's the distinction I am making in the answer. The only odd thing in all this is that it seems to imply that you should always apply in your country of citizenship, which can be very inconvenient if you reside elsewhere.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 17, 2021 at 14:28

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