Recently in the Official Gazette of 29.7.2020, no. 174, was published Law no. 113/2020 “ON CITIZENSHIP”, which extends its effects from 14.10.2020.
This law has abrogated law no. 8389, dated 5.8.1998, “On Albanian citizenship”, as amended, decision no. 554, dated 3.7.2013, of the Council of Ministers, “On determining the procedures for recognition or acquisition of Albanian citizenship by persons of Albanian origin, with the exception of citizens of the Republic of Kosovo” and any other provision contrary to this law.
This law, unlike the previous law no. 8389, dated 05.08.1998 “On Albanian citizenship”, has expanded the spectrum of ways in which Albanian citizenship is acquired. According to the law in force, Albanian citizenship can be acquired through birth, origin, birth in the territory of the Republic of Albania, naturalization and adoption.
- Acquisition of citizenship by birth – Whoever is born, having even one of the parents with Albanian citizenship, automatically acquires Albanian citizenship and registers as an Albanian citizen;
- Acquisition of citizenship by origin is possible by providing the family connection in a straight line up to three degrees of the applicant with the firstborn (Jus sanguini);
- Acquisition of citizenship by birth in the territory of the Republic of Albania is possible when a child is born or found within the territory of the Republic of Albania (Jus soli);
- Acquisition of citizenship by naturalization is possible when the foreigner meets the criteria set in Article 8 of the law;
- Special cases of gaining Albanian citizenship will be considered cases when the Republic of Albania has a national interest or interest in the field of education, science, art, culture, economy and sports;
- Acquisition of citizenship by adoption if the adopter has Albanian citizenship;
Considering the Movement and Migration of families and children in Europe and not only, a movement which has been accompanied by an increase in risk factors and vulnerability to various problems, the Albanian legislator rightly considered the creation of an opportunity to recognize the right to acquire Albanian citizenship to this target group, in exchange for meeting certain conditions, provided in Article 11 of the law “On Citizenship”.
Another novelty of this law is the provision of renunciation of citizenship. The legislator has limited the waiver, except for the fact that the person does not remain stateless, but also with the fulfillment of certain conditions such as: adulthood, residence, lack of legal obligations, purity of image, etc.
Albanian citizenship, in addition to renouncing it at the initiative of the applicant, can now be revoked ex-officio when it is proved that the citizen has submitted forged documents to obtain citizenship or supports, carries out activities or is a member of organizations whose activity aims to infringe of national security and the constitutional order of the Republic of Albania.
For detailing and designing special programs, defining specific rules of special control of safety and purity of the image in the highest standards and monitoring the implementation a special state agency will be set up under the minister.
While the criteria for acquiring citizenship, according to special programs, application procedures, rules for conducting the necessary verifications and controls will be determined by bylaws, the publication of which is expected within 3 months from the entry into force of this law.
