Renting a home in Albania as a foreigner: lease, residence permit and checks

For most people moving to Albania, the first months come with two jobs at once: finding a place to live and getting permission to stay longer than a tourist. The two are connected. Every residence permit application asks where you will live, and for most categories the answer is a lease contract. This guide covers renting an apartment in Albania from a foreigner’s point of view, and links each legal point to the official document it comes from. The facts were checked on 22 October 2026.

Searching and visiting

Most rentals are listed by city and neighbourhood, by agencies and by owners. You can browse homes for rent, narrow to Tirana, or look only at listings posted by owners.

Albanian listings describe size with a short code:

• Garsoniere: a studio.
• 1+1: one bedroom plus a living room, which usually includes the kitchen.
• 2+1, 3+1: two or three bedrooms plus the living room.

Ask whether the flat is let furnished or empty, and what exactly stays. On the coast, ask whether the rent is for the whole year or only until the summer season starts. If you cannot visit in person, ask someone you trust to go, or hold a live video call where you choose what the camera shows.

Euro, lek and “old lek”

Rents are quoted in euro or in lek, and the currency is the lek: about 110 lek to the euro, according to the Italian foreign ministry’s Viaggiare Sicuri country sheet. You may also hear prices in “old lek”. A 1965 reform replaced the earlier banknotes at 10 to 1, and many people still count in the old unit, as the Bank of Albania has noted. One old lek is 0.1 lek, so “500,000 old lek” means 50,000 lek. Whatever is said aloud, write the amount and the currency in the contract.

The lease and your residence permit

A residence permit is what lets a foreigner stay in Albania for more than 90 days in any 180 (Law no. 79/2021 on foreigners, Art. 3). According to the e-Albania service description, you apply online within 30 days of entering the country, upload the documents, then post the originals and pay the fee once the application is accepted.

The accommodation document is where renting comes in. The e-Albania document list for students, pensioners, family reunification and several other categories asks for “evidence of suitable accommodation in Albania, certificates/lease contracts of the apartment in accordance with the housing standards in Albania”. The list for work-based unique permits asks for the same thing. So before you sign, make sure the lease is written, carries your name and the address of the flat, and covers the period you want to stay.

The lists do not say that the lease must be notarised. Ask the local border and migration office what it accepts before you sign. If you do sign before a notary, the deed is drafted in Albanian, and when a party does not know the language the whole content is translated (Law no. 110/2018 on notaries, Art. 100). Under the cadastre law (Law no. 111/2018, Art. 57), a notarial lease longer than nine years must be entered on the property’s record, and one longer than a year may be.

Which permit

• Pensioners: the law provides a permit for foreigners retired in their own country, up to one year at first and renewable each year; it does not allow any economic activity (Art. 85). The e-Albania list asks for proof of an annual pension above 1,200,000 lek, a statement from an Albanian bank on the pension transfer, health insurance in Albania and a criminal record certificate, besides the accommodation document.
• Digital nomads: the “unique permit for digital mobile workers” lasts up to one year at first. You prove a contract with an employer or client abroad, enough income, proof of accommodation and an address in Albania, health insurance valid for at least a year and a criminal record certificate (Art. 68).
• Students: a one-year permit, extended year by year until the studies end, for students admitted to a recognised institution (Art. 46).
• Employees: working in Albania requires a unique permit (Art. 56), with the employment contract and the accommodation document.
• US citizens applying for the first time who meet the general criteria receive a five-year permit (Art. 33).

EU citizens: a 2025 amendment (Art. 33/1) lets them stay more than three months without a permit if they work, have sufficient resources and health insurance, or study, and register online with the border and migration authority within three months of arrival. Italian official advice, updated on 30 July 2026, still tells travellers to apply for a permit after 90 days, so check with the migration office which procedure it applies.

Registering your address

Once you hold a temporary permit of at least one year, you count as a temporary resident only after registering with the civil status office of the municipality where you live, and you must tell the authorities each time you move (Art. 36). EU citizens with a registration certificate register in the same way (Art. 33/1). Plan for it when you change flats.

Rent, deposit and inventory

• Pay by bank transfer to an account in the owner’s name and keep the receipts. A payment record is far easier to show than cash.
• Write the deposit amount in the contract, with when and how it comes back.
• Make an inventory of furniture and appliances, photograph the flat and the meter readings on the day you move in, and have both sides sign it.
• Agree in writing who pays the building fee, water, electricity and internet.

Checks before you pay

• Who owns it. The ownership certificate is the document that proves title, and it is issued only to the owner or co-owners (cadastre law, Art. 17). Ask to see it and check that the name matches the ID of the person signing. If an agent or relative signs, ask for their written authority.
• No money before the visit and the contract. Do not send a deposit to “hold” a flat you have not seen, or before you have read the contract. Our page on avoiding scams lists the common tricks.

This guide is general information, not legal advice: for your own case, ask the migration office or a lawyer.