Acquisition of citizenship from foreign citizens when the Republic of Albania has a national interest, interest in a field of education, science, art, culture, sports economy.
The ways of acquisition of Albanian Citizenship are defined in law no. 113/2020 “On citizenship” which entered into force on 14 September 2020. According to this law, Albanian citizenship is acquired: – by birth; – origin; – birth in the territory of the Republic of Albania; – naturalization; – adoption.
This law, in addition to the above, has defined in its article 9 the special cases of gaining Albanian citizenship by foreign citizens who have reached the age of 18 years. Pursuant to this law, special cases of gaining Albanian citizenship by foreigners who have reached the age of 18 are cases when they do not pose a threat to public order and national security of the Republic of Albania, cases when the Republic of Albania has a national interest or interest in the field of education and science, art, culture, economics and sports.
Exactly pursuant to the above law, the Council of Ministers has recently approved Decision no. 1008, dated 25.11.2020 “On the establishment, organization and functioning of the Agency for Drafting Special Citizenship Programs“. This decision was published in the Official Journal no. 221, dated 17.12.2020, and entered into force on the same date, 17.12.2020.
For the design of special programs, the definition of specific rules of special control of security and purity of the image in the highest standards, this special state agency is created under the Minister of Interior called the Agency for Drafting Special Citizenship Programs (ADSCP). This agency is established as a public budget legal entity, based in Tirana, with activities throughout the territory of the Republic of Albania, which is headed by the General Director, who is accountable to the Minister.
The main tasks of ADSCP are:
a – Preparation of technical criteria for special programs of national interest, or of interest in the field of education, science, art, culture, economics and sports for the acquisition of Albanian citizenship by foreign nationals who invest in Albania or contribute to educational development, scientific, artistic-cultural, economic and sports of the country;
b – Preparation of technical criteria for acquiring citizenship, application procedures, rules for conducting necessary verifications and controls;
c – Preparation of specific rules of special control and image purity in the highest standards of control;
d – Designs, implements and administers special programs;
dh – Examines applications for compliance with the criteria for acquiring citizenship, performs verifications and controls related to the purity of the image;
e– Cooperates with the responsible institutions in the field of education, science, art, culture, economy and sports for the drafting of special programs of national interest, etc..
Pursuant to this decision, the General Director presents to the Minister responsible for citizenship and asylum issues, regulations, draft laws of individual and normative character, which are expected to be issued in the following, for all special cases of acquisition of Albanian citizenship by foreigners.