Dear Expats,
You can apply for a Biometric ID Card after your application for a residency permit has been approved. After which you will have received a temporary permit with a 60-day expiry.
Before or soon after the 60 days expires you will receive an email notification from the Immigration Office explaining the steps to obtain your biometric ID card. You will also receive a waybill of 5700 Lek, which can be paid at a local bank. You will receive the email at the address you, or the person that assisted you, has provided. If by any chance this email address is no longer available to you, you must go to the Immigration Office and request this notification & waybill in person by identifying yourself with the 60-day temporary permit.
The E-mail notification looks like this:
We inform you that your Residence Permit for citizen XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX , Travel Document no. XXXXXXXXXX , XXXXXXXXXXX has been approved.
To have a Biometric Residence Permit issued, you need to:
– Confirm the correct address at the Civil Registry Office (by submitting this printed notice, travel document, and apartment rental contract);
– Make the payment in the Bank according to the attached payment receipt.
– Be present at the Local Directorate for Border and Migration Tirana, to perform the procedure for equipment with the biometric card Residence Permit for Foreigners.
Thank you for understanding!
Drejtoria Vendore për Kufirin dhe Migracionin TIRANE (or other city…)
You need to confirm your (correct) residential address at the Civil Registry Office, located at the Mini-Municipality office of the area you live in. You must go in person (best with a translator) and present the following documents:
- the printed notification email from the immigration office
- your passport / travel document (& copy)
- your rental contract (notarized copy)
Next, you need to make the payment (for the biometric card) of 5700 Lek at a local bank.
Last, go back to the Immigration Office to present all of the above and complete the application for the biometric card. It takes 2 weeks to process the card and yet another trip to the Immigration Office to pick it up.
Extra details: Apparently, your visit to the local municipality for the address confirmation process, sends a confirmation to the immigration system that generates your ID number accordingly. This process has shown to have glitches, where, even though you complete all the steps, when you apply for the biometric card, your ID number has not yet been generated. In this case, the immigration officers themselves suggest waiting a week or two before you head back to their offices to retry.
We can assist you through this should you want to or need one of us to be with you throughout this new and exciting process. Please reserve a time with us here: Biometric ID Card – Assist
Best of Luck,
D