NextStay

Shqipëria·Destination guide · Southern Europe

Albania

41.3275° N · Southern Europe · EU candidate (not EU / not Schengen)

Albania still runs lodging on a categorization certificate — then electronic client data, not an EU STR portal.

Under Ligji nr. 93/2015 “Për turizmin” as amended by Ligji nr. 30/2024, every accommodation structure needs a categorization certificate in the Central Tourism Register, and must keep electronic client registration covering visitor numbers, nights, nationality, residence, gender and age. Separately, Ligji nr. 79/2021 “Për të huajt” art. 136 requires hotel and resort managers to inform the regional border-and-migration authority of foreign guests’ arrival and departure — and forbids admitting aliens who cannot prove lawful stay. Municipal taksa e fjetjes në hotel (Ligji 9632/2006) is collected per night; Bashkia Tiranë publishes 140 lekë for standard units and 350 lekë for 4–5-star hotels. Albania is an EU candidate country — not an EU Member State and not in Schengen.

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NextStay relevance · Albania

5 / 5

Essential

Ligji 93/2015 (neni 43/1, as amended by Ligji 30/2024) requires a categorization certificate plus electronic client registration (visitor count, nights, nationality, residence, gender, age) — while Ligji 79/2021 art. 136 makes hotels/resorts notify border & migration of alien arrivals/departures, on top of municipal taksa e fjetjes (Tirana: 140 / 350 lekë).

At a glance · Albania

  • Client register

    Electronic · art. 43/1

  • Aliens (hotels)

    Notify border / migration

  • Licence

    Categorization certificate

  • Tirana tax

    140 / 350 lekë

Who this is for

What hosts and hotels actually need to know

Albanian short-stay compliance is denser than a soft platform habit and different from Croatia’s eVisitor or Portugal’s SIBA. First, tourism licensing: Ligji 93/2015 neni 43/1 (Ligji 30/2024) — tourism entrepreneurs apply for a categorization certificate within 30 days of QKB registration; individual landlords of Apartment, Villa or Room categories apply before starting. The certificate is indefinite and enters the ministry’s Central Tourism Register. Operating without it attracts room-count fines (e.g. 20,000–50,000 lekë for 1–5 rooms). Second, guest data: the same article requires electronic client registration with visitor count, nights of stay, nationality, residence, gender and age — capture those fields before remote access unlocks. Third, aliens at hotels/resorts: Ligji 79/2021 art. 136(2) is a notify-arrival-and-departure duty to the regional border/migration authority, not a national same-day portal like eVisitor; keep a foreigners’ data register as the sanctions chapter contemplates (art. 141). Fourth, local lodging tax and fiscal tracks: taksa e fjetjes is municipal under Ligji 9632; Tirana’s published rates are primary; Sarandë and Vlorë rates are set by each bashki — confirm locally. Registered businesses follow fiskalizimi / TVSH (6% reduced rate on categorized accommodation per tatime.gov.al guidance); many individual short-lets declare via DIVA at 15% on rental income when tax was not withheld. Self check-in works when required guest fields (and legal-stay proof for foreign guests at hotels/resorts) are captured before access is released.

Front desk or digital, the stack is the same: categorization certificate, electronic client fields under art. 43/1, alien arrival/departure notice under Ligji 79/2021 art. 136, and municipal taksa e fjetjes on the invoice.

  • 01Hold a valid categorization certificate in the Central Tourism Register for the hotel / resort category
  • 02Keep electronic client registration (visitor count, nights, nationality, residence, gender, age)
  • 03Inform the regional border-and-migration authority of foreign guests’ arrival and departure; do not admit aliens without proof of lawful stay
  • 04Collect and remit taksa e fjetjes at the bashki rate (Tirana: 140 lekë standard / 350 lekë for 4–5-star) by the 5th of the following month under Ligji 9632

Chapter · Guest data

Electronic client registration & alien notification

Tourism law requires electronic client fields for every accommodation structure. Separately, the Aliens Act puts hotels and resorts on a border/migration notification duty for foreign guests.

Statute

“Çdo strukturë akomoduese gjatë ushtrimit të veprimtarisë ka detyrimin të kryejë regjistrimin elektronik të klientëve me të dhënat për numrin e vizitorëve, netëve të qëndrimit, shtetësinë, rezidencën, gjininë dhe moshën.”
Ligji nr. 93/2015, neni 43/1, pika 4 (as inserted by Ligji nr. 30/2024) [02]
  1. 01

    Electronic client fields (neni 43/1)

    Every accommodation structure must perform electronic client registration covering number of visitors, nights of stay, nationality, residence, gender and age. Those fields are the statutory minimum for the tourism-side register — a passport photo dump without them does not meet the text. The statute does not name a single public portal equivalent to Croatia’s eVisitor in the article itself; confirm the current electronic channel and any implementing regulation with the ministry responsible for tourism.

    [02][01]
  2. 02

    Who files / what clock

    Tourism-side: every operating accommodation structure must keep the art. 43/1 electronic client fields — Ligji 30/2024 does not state a 24-hour national portal deadline in the article text. Aliens-side: art. 136(2) binds managers/owners of hotels and resorts to inform the regional/local aliens authority of foreign guests’ arrival and departure, again without a numbered hour clock in the statute. Treat pre-arrival capture as operational hygiene so you can file when the regional channel requires it — do not invent a Croatia-style same-day eVisitor clone from silence in the primary texts.

    [02][04]
  3. 03

    Hotels & resorts — notify border and migration

    Ligji nr. 79/2021 art. 136(2): managers/owners of hotels and resorts (hoteleve dhe qendrave të pushimit) must inform the regional/local authority responsible for aliens about the arrival and departure of foreigners they accommodate. Hotels and resorts may not admit aliens who fail to prove lawful stay in Albania. This is a notify-and-record duty under domestic aliens law — not Schengen Art. 45, and not a same-day national e-filing portal named in the primary texts reviewed.

    [04]
  4. 04

    Register of foreigners & sanctions

    Art. 141(dh) of Ligji 79/2021 fines persons who do not keep a register of data for foreigners as required by the law and its implementing acts (50,000–100,000 lekë). Art. 141(d) separately fines persons who shelter or offer services to aliens contrary to the law without reporting to border/migration (300,000–400,000 lekë). Capture identity and legal-stay proof needed for your lodging type before access; retain records for inspection. Confirm any local ASP / border-migration reporting form or system with the regional office — do not invent a national deadline that the statute does not state.

    [04]
  5. 05

    Immovable property may not be rented to undocumented aliens

    Art. 136(1) prohibits renting immovable property to aliens who lack a valid travel document recognised by the law, or a valid visa or residence permit. That gate sits beside tourism categorization — a categorized apartment that admits a guest with no lawful-stay proof still breaches the Aliens Act.

    [04]

Chapter · Licence

Categorization certificate & Central Tourism Register

Ligji 93/2015 as amended by Ligji 30/2024 makes a categorization certificate the gate to operating tourist accommodation — for QKB-registered tourism entrepreneurs and for individual Apartment / Villa / Room landlords alike.

  1. 01

    Tourism entrepreneurs — 30 days from QKB

    Neni 43/1(1): every tourism entrepreneur operating as an accommodation structure submits, within 30 days of registration at the National Business Center (QKB) for that activity, an application to the ministry responsible for tourism for a categorization certificate under the implementing criteria.

    [02][01]
  2. 02

    Individual landlords — Apartment, Villa, Room before start

    Neni 43/1(2): the individual landlord for categories “Apartament”, “Vilë” or “Dhomë” must apply for the categorization certificate before commencing activity. The certificate is indefinite (pa afat) and is entered in the Central Tourism Register administered by the tourism ministry. Advertising platform nights without that certificate is the compliance gap the fines target.

    [02]
  3. 03

    Categories and stars

    Neni 45 (as amended) sets distinct classification signs: hotels 2–5 stars; resorts 3–5 stars; Apartment and Room as standard; Villa as comfort/superior; plus bujtinë, fjetinë, motel, B&B, distributed hotel, cultural-heritage lodging and others. Match the certificate category to how you actually operate — a year-round hotel-like block is not a single-room individual let.

    [02][01]
  4. 04

    Fines for operating without categorization

    Ligji 30/2024 administrative penalties for operating as an accommodation structure without a categorization certificate scale by room count: 20,000–50,000 lekë (1–5 rooms), 100,000 lekë (6–15), 200,000 lekë (16–40), 300,000 lekë (41–80), and 400,000 lekë above 80 rooms. Confirm the current inspectorate practice; the statutory ranges are the floor for risk planning.

    [02]

Chapter · Tax & fiscal

Taksa e fjetjes, TVSH and personal-income tracks

Municipal lodging tax is national in statute and local in rate. Central tax (TVSH / DIVA / fiskalizimi) depends on whether you are a registered taxpayer or an individual landlord.

  1. 01

    Taksa e fjetjes në hotel — Ligji 9632

    Ligji nr. 9632/2006 art. 26 defines “hotel” broadly for this tax: any paid lodging activity, including motel, tourist establishment, pension, guest house, family tourism and any other object used for that purpose. The tax base is nights stayed; the municipality sets the per-night rate; the guest owes it and the lodging provider withholds it for the bashki, showing lodging price and tax on the invoice; remittance to the bashki is due by the 5th of the following month (art. 26(6)).

    [05][06]
  2. 02

    Tirana — 140 / 350 lekë (published)

    Bashkia Tiranë’s official taksa e fjetjes page lists 350 lekë per overnight for 4–5-star hotel subjects and 140 lekë per overnight for hotels, bujtinë, fjetinë, motel and other accommodation units under the tourism law (in administrative units Tiranë, Kashar, Dajt, Farkë). Other administrative units in Bashkia Tiranë apply 140 lekë. Collection sits with the municipal tax directorate. Rates can change by municipal decision — re-check tirana.al before quoting guests.

    [06][05]
  3. 03

    Sarandë, Vlorë and other bashki — confirm locally

    Coastal municipalities levy the same national tax under art. 26, but each këshill bashkiak sets the operative per-night figure. Do not invent a single Sarandë or Vlorë rate from secondary blogs — obtain the current municipal decision (or tax office table) for the property’s bashki before quoting or remitting.

    [05]
  4. 04

    Business fiscal track — fiskalizimi & 6% TVSH

    Tatime.gov.al instructs accommodation taxpayers to fiscalize invoices with clear “Dhomë…” line items, exact night counts, and accommodation separated from other services. The reduced 6% VAT rate applies only to accommodation supply in structures categorized under tourism legislation, per the VAT law and DPT guidance (including VKM nr. 160/12.03.2025 capacity/season context referenced in the summer notice). Uncategorized or mis-described invoices risk losing the reduced rate.

    [07][08]
  5. 05

    Individuals — rental income & DIVA

    DPT guidance under Ligji nr. 8438 “Për tatimin mbi të ardhurat” treats rental income of individuals as taxable (historically cited at 15%). Where tax was not withheld at source — DPT’s Tax Test / DIVA materials expressly mention daily rents and Booking / Airbnb-type platform income — individuals may need to declare via the annual personal-income declaration (DIVA / DVAP) by 31 March of the following year when thresholds are met. Confirm your exact track with DPT; do not assume a NIPT exemption substitutes for categorization under tourism law.

    [09][10]

Chapter · EU candidate

Not EU, not Schengen — domestic data rules only

Albania is an EU candidate country. GDPR and Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 are not Albanian law by virtue of EU membership. Use Ligji 79/2021, Ligji 93/2015 and Ligji 124/2024.

  1. 01

    Not Schengen — no Art. 45 as domestic duty

    Albania is outside the Schengen area. Do not copy Portuguese boletim, Croatian eVisitor, or “Schengen hotel card” wording as if Convention Art. 45 applied here. The operative alien-lodging duties are Ligji 79/2021 art. 136 (hotels/resorts) and the tourism-law electronic client register — Albanian statutes, Albanian channels.

    [04][02]
  2. 02

    Ligji nr. 124/2024 — personal data (domestic)

    Guest identity, nationality, age and access logs are personal data under Ligji nr. 124/2024 “Për mbrojtjen e të dhënave personale” (IDP). Collect what the tourism and aliens statutes require, inform guests, secure storage, and avoid unnecessary full passport-image archives when the statutory fields suffice. Cite this domestic law — not Regulation (EU) 2016/679 as directly applicable Albanian legislation.

    [11][12]
  3. 03

    Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 — not Albanian law

    From 20 May 2026 the EU short-term rental data framework applies where EU Member States operate registration systems and require platform reporting. Albania is not an EU Member State: do not invent platform delisting duties or an EU single digital entry point here. Albania already runs its own categorization certificate and art. 43/1 electronic client registration independently of 2024/1028. Accession negotiations do not transpose that regulation automatically.

    [13][14][02]

Remote arrival · Still the law

Self check-in under Albanian rules

Remote arrival is rising across Tirana apartments and the Sarandë–Vlorë coast. The compliance gate is capturing art. 43/1 client fields — and, for hotels/resorts, data needed to notify border/migration of foreign guests — before door codes unlock.

01

Document

02

E.turistas

03

Keys

  • Client-register fields before access

    Build visitor count, nights, nationality, residence, gender and age into the check-in flow itself. A booking confirmation or WhatsApp name is not electronic client registration under neni 43/1.

    [02]

  • Legal-stay proof for foreign guests (hotels/resorts)

    Where art. 136 applies, do not release access to a foreign guest who cannot prove lawful stay, and plan arrival/departure notice to the regional border/migration authority. Confirm the local reporting channel — there is no Portugal-style SIBA portal named in the primary Aliens Act text.

    [04]

  • Categorization is a separate prerequisite

    Completed guest data does not replace the categorization certificate. Confirm Apartment / Villa / Room or hotel category registration before automating remote arrival at scale.

    [02]

  • Tax line on the stay invoice

    Where taksa e fjetjes applies, show lodging price and tax on the invoice and remit to the bashki by the statutory deadline. Pair that with fiskalizimi or DIVA duties as your taxpayer status requires.

    [05][06]

Municipal & coastal layers

Categorization and art. 43/1 client registration are national. Taksa e fjetjes rates and remittance offices are municipal — Tirana publishes figures; Sarandë and Vlorë must be confirmed locally.

  • Et'hem Bey Mosque and Clock Tower on Skanderbeg Square, Tirana

    Tirana — capital apartments + published lodging tax

    01

    Bashkia Tiranë lists taksa e fjetjes at 350 lekë / overnight for 4–5-star hotels and 140 lekë for other tourism-law accommodation units (140 lekë also for other administrative units in the municipality). Pair that with national categorization and electronic client fields. Hotel/resort alien notification still runs to the regional border/migration authority under Ligji 79/2021.

    [06][02][04]
  • Sarandë waterfront and Ionian coast, Albania

    Sarandë — coastal peaks, confirm municipal tax

    02

    Ionian peak season makes timed remote arrivals valuable. The national categorization certificate and art. 43/1 electronic client register still apply. Taksa e fjetjes is due under Ligji 9632, but Sarandë’s operative per-night rate is a municipal decision — confirm with Bashkia Sarandë before quoting guests. Do not invent a “tourist tax” figure from secondary blogs.

    [05][02]
  • Aerial view of Vlorë city and bay, Albania

    Vlorë — bay arrivals, same national stack

    03

    Vlorë bay apartments and resorts sit on the same Ligji 93/2015 categorization and art. 43/1 client-register duties. Ferry and road timing reward pre-completed guest data. Confirm Bashkia Vlorë’s current taksa e fjetjes table and, for hotel/resort stock, the regional migration notification practice.

    [05][02][04]

This is the law · Here is the reference

Sources & references

Primary statutes, EU instruments and competent authorities. Open the link when your property is at stake.

  1. [01]Local law
    Ligji nr. 93/2015 — Për turizmin (QBZ)

    Primary tourism statute: accommodation structures, certification and (as amended) categorization framework.

  2. [02]Local law
    Ligji nr. 30/2024 — amendments to Ligji 93/2015 (neni 43/1)

    Inserts categorization certificate duties, Central Tourism Register, electronic client registration fields, Apartment/Villa/Room individual-landlord track, and room-count fines.

  3. [03]Guidance
    Ligji 93/2015 consolidated text (incl. Ligji 30/2024)

    Planning ministry dump of the tourism law as amended — useful reading copy alongside QBZ ELI entries.

  4. [04]Local law
    Ligji nr. 79/2021 — Për të huajt (ASP PDF)

    Primary aliens statute: art. 136 hotel/resort arrival–departure notice and lawful-stay gate; art. 141(d)/(dh) service/register sanctions (300–400k / 50–100k lekë).

  5. [05]Local law
    Ligji nr. 9632/2006 — Sistemi i taksave vendore (art. 26)

    Primary statute for taksa e fjetjes në hotel: broad lodging definition, nights base, municipal rate, invoice withholding, remittance by the 5th of the following month.

  6. [06]Authority
    Bashkia Tiranë — Taksa e fjetjes në hotel

    Official municipal rates: 350 lekë/overnight for 4–5-star hotels; 140 lekë for other tourism-law accommodation units (and other admin units).

  7. [07]Authority
    tatime.gov.al — Accommodation structure invoicing notice

    DPT summer guidance: fiscalized “Dhomë” lines, night counts, service split, and 6% VAT only for categorized tourism accommodation (references VKM nr. 160/12.03.2025).

  8. [08]Authority
    tatime.gov.al — 6% VAT for accommodation activities

    Official distinction of activities eligible for the reduced VAT rate on categorized accommodation structures.

  9. [09]Authority
    tatime.gov.al — Individual rental income guidance

    DPT notice to citizens letting property: taxable rental income under the Income Tax Act (cited 15% track / declaration duties).

  10. [10]Authority
    tatime.gov.al — Tax Test / DIVA (platform daily rents)

    Confirms DIVA declaration relevance for income over thresholds where tax was not withheld, explicitly including daily rents and Booking / Airbnb-type platforms.

  11. [11]Local law
    Ligji nr. 124/2024 — Për mbrojtjen e të dhënave personale (IDP EN PDF)

    Domestic personal-data statute applying to guest registers and check-in processing — not GDPR as directly applicable Albanian law.

  12. [12]Authority
    IDP — Personal data protection legislation index

    Commissioner index listing Ligji 124/2024 in force and Ligji 9887/2008 as repealed.

  13. [13]EU law
    Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 — short-term rental data

    EU Member State framework from 20 May 2026. Not Albanian law; cited only to mark what does not apply by EU membership.

  14. [14]Agency
    European Commission — STR transparency rules

    Plain-language EU framework explanation — do not read as creating Albanian duties absent accession/transposition.

After the law · The product

Where NextStay fits

After the law is clear: we build art. 43/1 client-field capture into the check-in gate — so Albanian hosts can run remote arrivals without skipping categorization or guest-data duties.

  • 01

    Guest data before the key

    Online check-in collects the statutory client fields — and identity / legal-stay proof where hotels/resorts need them for Ligji 79/2021 — before door instructions unlock.

  • 02

    Register-ready stay records

    Structured guest data stays organised for electronic client registration and border/migration notification where that track applies — without pretending Albania runs a Croatia-style national eVisitor portal.

  • 03

    Host visibility without desk chaos

    Hotels and individual hosts see who has completed check-in, who is blocked, and when access can release — including late Tirana arrivals and coastal peak check-ins.

  • 04

    Destination guidance in the workspace

    This Albania dossier stays attached to the market — categorization certificate, art. 43/1 client register, art. 136 alien notice, Tirana lodging tax, and EU-candidate accuracy — not a generic GDPR footnote.

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Cities in Albania

NextStay provides operational tools and general regulatory information, not legal advice. Hosts remain responsible for confirming the rules that apply to their accommodation in Albania. Research last verified .