In 2025, it turns out that there has been a significant increase in the number of foreign citizens with residence permits living and working in Albania.
By the end of 2025, the number of foreigners with residence permits in Albania reached 27,514 residents according to data from the Electronic Registry of Foreigners (FER) provided to Monitor by the State Police, marking a record level. The majority of them, about 65%, are for work reasons and about 15% for family reunification.
Compared to 2024, the number of foreign citizens with residence permits increased by about 4,800 residents or 22%.
Of the total of 27,514 active residence permits until the end of 2025, the majority of foreigners are from Kosovo and Italy.
The number of citizens from Kosovo with residence permits reached 6,076 residents, which constitutes about 22% of the total. Compared to 2024, their number increased by 32%.
Unlike other citizens, residents of Kosovo are issued with a 5-year residence permit.
After Kosovo, the highest number of foreign citizens with residence permits is from Italy with 3,776 people, which makes up 14% of the total number of foreigners. Compared to 2024, their number increased by 75%.
Alongside Italy and Greece, which have traditionally led the way in terms of residence permits, a significant increase in 2025 was recorded by citizens from India, the Philippines and Egypt, who have risen to third, fourth and fifth place respectively.
The number of Indian nationals in 2025 reached 2,399 or 47%. Indian nationals make up 14% of the total number of foreigners with residence permits. They work mainly in services and information technology.
Citizens from the Philippines with residence permits in 2025 are 2,213 people or 130% more than in 2024. These citizens work mainly in domestic services and in hotels and restaurants, and less in fashion.
In 2025, the number of foreign nationals from Egypt was 2,007 people, or about 2 times more than in 2024, and they work in various sectors, including agriculture. They accounted for 7% of the total number of foreigners in 2025.
The number of citizens from Turkey was 1,862 people or 7% of the total in 2025. Compared to 2024, their number increased by about 47%.
The number of foreign citizens from the US reached 1,128 residents or 164% more than in 2024.
On the other hand, Miami has 445 people (2% of the total) or 77% more than in 2024.
The number of citizens from China reached 362 people or 42% more than in 2024.
The number of foreign nationals from Nigeria reached 184 people for the year 2025.
New applications for 2025, led by Indian and Filipino nationals
During 2025, according to the Electronic Register of Foreigners (FER), a total of 19,321 applications for residence permits were processed, which shows a significant increase compared to 13,176 applications that were processed during 2024. Compared to 2024, their number increased by 6,145 applications or 47% more.
During 2025, the main nationalities that applied for a residence permit for the first time were India with 2,691 applications, which accounts for 14% of the total, the Philippines with 2,415 applications (13%), Italy with 2,239 applications (12%), Egypt with 2,198 applications (11%), Kosovo with 1,813 applications (9%), Turkey with 1,441 applications (7%), the USA with 606 applications (3%), Myanmar with 506 applications (3%), Russia with 442 applications (2%) and Ukraine with 312 applications (2%).
65% of new job applications
However, the main motive for obtaining a residence permit in Albania continues to be for employment and family reunification.
For the year 2025, of the total new applications, 65% of them were for unique employment permits, followed by applications for family reunification which constituted 13% or about 5% of them were for study purposes. While the number of foreign citizens who applied for permanent residence permits was 40 or constituting 0.2% of the total number of applications for 2025.
Of the total applications for 2025, according to the data, 7,049 or 36.4% of them are applications from women and 12,272 or 63.6% from men./Monitor
