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Less interest in the Albanian passport, Albanian citizenship for foreigners drops by 46%

Politiko 2026-07-06 16:44:55

Less interest in the Albanian passport, Albanian citizenship for foreigners

The acquisition of Albanian citizenship is going through a phase of contraction during 2025, reflecting a significant decrease in interest in obtaining or relinquishing it compared to the previous year.

According to official INSTAT data, the number of people who have obtained Albanian citizenship decreased to 495 this year, a figure significantly lower than the 919 cases registered during 2024.

Last year, 306 of the people who received citizenship regained it and 189 gained it for the first time. The structure of these winners is dominated by citizens of Kosovo, who make up 56.1% of the total, followed by Turkish citizens with 20.1%, while with smaller percentages, those from North Macedonia and Italy follow, each with 4.8%.

This slowdown was also accompanied by a reduction in requests to renounce citizenship, signaling a change in the approach of applicants and a more careful consideration of migratory flows in the current period. 173 people have chosen to renounce Albanian citizenship during 2025.

The demographic analysis of these processes highlights that the 30-39 age group was the most represented, accounting for 31.7% of persons who acquired citizenship and 43.9% of those who renounced it.

On the other hand, the number of people who sought asylum in our country reached 144 in 2025, or 40 people more than in 2024. According to official INSTAT data, last year there was a slight increase in the number of requests for international protection.

An asylum seeker is any foreign citizen or stateless person who has submitted an application for international protection, for which a final and conclusive decision has not yet been made.

The flow of asylum applications was mainly concentrated during the second quarter of the year, specifically in August, September and October, a period which covered 63.2% of the total number of requests for 2025.

Regarding the origin of these requests, statistics show that the vast majority of them came from Egypt with 39.6%, followed by Afghanistan with 11.8% and Palestine with 9.7%./Monitor

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