Retiring in Albania: Residence, Healthcare, Taxation and Daily Life

Holders of a valid French identity card or passport, valid for three months beyond the planned return, stay in Albania without a visa for up to 90 days in 6 months. To settle, France Diplomatie states that the residence permit application must be filed within 30 days of arrival, with the police station of the city of residence, which provides the up-to-date list of documents. The page recommends presenting a full copy of the birth certificate and a B2 extract of the criminal record, translated into Albanian and apostilled. It specifies that the Albanian authorities do not recognise the five-year extension of the French identity card.

The official French pages describe no ground for residence specific to retirees and no quantified income condition: the ground chosen, the proof of income and housing and the deadlines should be confirmed with the Albanian border and migration police and the Albanian embassy in Paris before departure. The health insurance fund recalls that, for a foreigner, the residence permit number serves as the insured number: the permit therefore also conditions access to the local system. The settling-in formalities are set out in the guide living in Albania.

Form S1, valid in the European Union and the European Economic Area, does not apply in Albania, and the country does not appear in the list of agreements of CLEISS (the French centre for European and international social security liaison). According to CLEISS, outside an agreement, French health insurance provides no cover on site; the retiree takes out insurance suited to the real cost of care. The FSDKSH lists retirees among the insured, without describing the situation of a foreign retiree: access should be confirmed with the Fund. Since 2016, primary care consultations and emergencies have been free for all residents, and specialist consultations or tests are free or inexpensive on referral from the family doctor (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies).

The CFE offers its retirees’ offer (with a contribution that depends on age and the plan chosen) (cfe.fr) for expatriate retirees: the waiting period is nil if membership takes place within three months of departure, then three months before age 45 and six months after. International health insurance opens direct access to private hospitals, where patients pay the full cost, with evacuation and repatriation. France Diplomatie recalls that some complex cases may require priority private hospitalisation or evacuation abroad. See healthcare reimbursement in Albania, retirees’ health insurance abroad and retirement insurance abroad.

The list of treaties on impots.gouv.fr offers, for Albania, a treaty on income and wealth taxes and a consolidated version that incorporates the changes made by the multilateral convention; the dates do not appear on the page consulted. These texts designate the State competent to tax pensions of French source: the summary consulted does not reproduce the articles concerned, and the retiree reads them or has an adviser read them before choosing their tax residence. The French tax residence criteria (home, main place of stay, activity, centre of economic interests) can be checked on impots.gouv.fr: leaving for Albania does not automatically end it.

CLEISS recalls that a retiree who is no longer a tax resident in France no longer bears CSG, CRDS or CASA on their pensions; a health insurance contribution may remain if they keep French rights. Local taxation of an Albanian resident falls under law no. 8438 of 28 December 1998 on income tax and its implementing texts, published by the General Directorate of Taxes: no rate is repeated here without reading the official text.

The currency is the lek. The Bank of Albania publishes the official exchange rate of the lek against the euro. Hotels often accept the euro, cash machines in Tirana and the large tourist cities dispense euros, and card payments can incur high fees. The currency declaration threshold on entry is 1 million lekë (about 10,000 euros). France Diplomatie gives no level of rents; a pension received in euros is compared with housing, transport and supplementary health insurance costs, the latter being a major item for anyone wanting access to the private sector.

Tirana is home to the French embassy, the French School, the Institut français d’Albanie and most of the country’s private hospitals (European Observatory); Durrës and Vlora line the coast, which stretches about 400 km, Shkodra opens onto the Albanian Alps and Korçë, in the south-east, is a calmer city. France Diplomatie recommends booking accommodation in advance, having the rate confirmed before settling in and avoiding unfamiliar mountain or rural roads at night. The French licence is recognised; the speed limit is 40 km/h in town and 110 km/h on motorways, with severe penalties for drink-driving.

France Diplomatie reports a life expectancy of nearly 82 years for women and 78 years for men, a high human development index (above 0.8) and a country of about 2.3 million inhabitants, with a density of about 100 inhabitants per km². These benchmarks place the country’s public health; how care is organised is detailed in the guide Albanian healthcare system.

Daily life relies on good mobile and wifi coverage across the whole territory and on a French community of about 220 people registered on the consular register, relatively small: the Institut français d’Albanie and the school play a linking role. The risks to know are the road (about 400 deaths a year), Lyme disease, vipers and earthquakes; France Diplomatie places the whole territory at normal vigilance.

• Inform the pension fund, the CPAM and the supplementary funds of the change of residence.
• Prepare the full birth certificate and the B2 extract of the criminal record, translated into Albanian and apostilled.
• Study the CFE (retirees’ offer) or international insurance within three months of departure to avoid the waiting period.
• File the residence permit application within 30 days of arrival, at the police station of the city of residence.
• Read the Franco-Albanian tax treaty and determine your tax residence before departure.
• Prepare your medicines: strictly what is necessary, original packaging, prescription using the international non-proprietary name.
• Register with Fil d’Ariane and with the French embassy in Tirana.

To compare contracts, see expat health insurance and Albanian healthcare system.