APPROVED! How We Got 5-Year Residency in Europe

We are officially here to stay! Our 5-year residency permits for Albania are approved and valid until 2030. 🎉

In this video we walk you through the exact process we used as Americans who arrived on the 12-month visa-free stay, set up a business inside Albania, and turned that into long-term residency without apostilled documents or a trip back to the US. If you’ve been thinking about leaving the visa shuffle behind and actually having a home base in Europe, this is for you.

We break down how we:
• Used the 12-month visa-free entry as our “test year”
• Got a long-term notarized lease (and why we chose a 5-year lease with a 90-day opt-out)
• Worked with an immigration attorney to start a company and apply through the business route
• Chose qualifying documents (degree, letter of recommendation, even Coursera certificates)
• Set up monthly tax and social contributions so we’re covered under Albania’s public health system
• What it actually cost us (around €2,000 total for both of us to get 5-year cards)
• The residency rules to keep your permit and later qualify for citizenship or permanent status

We also talk honestly about why we did this: safety, stability, and wanting a real home in Europe instead of endlessly bouncing between countries. Albania is an EU candidate country and the rules will tighten over time (you’re already seeing this in places like Portugal and Montenegro), so if this is on your radar, now is the moment to at least understand the process.

If you’re curious about Albania, you don’t have to commit right away. You can literally just show up, use the 12-month stay to see if life here and your business ideas actually work, and then decide if residency makes sense for you.

⸻

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:04 Step 0: Arrive (12 Months Visa Free)
02:52 Step 1: Find Long-Term Housing
05:03 Step 2: Get Attorney and Sign POA
06:37 Step 3: Submit Applications & Approval
07:15 Steps to Create a Business in Albania
08:38 Paying Taxes and Hiring an Accountant
09:44 Contributing to Social Insurance Program
10:56 Managing Bureaucracy
11:57 Fastest Route to Residency
14:14 Urgency: Upcoming Changes to Residency
15:27 Maintaining Residency
16:54 How We Can Help

📸 Follow our daily life in Albania:
Instagram →   / smileabroad.al  
TikTok →   / smile_abroad  
Facebook →   / smileabroad.al  
Blog → https://www.smileabroad.al/blog

⚖️ Residency Help for Americans and Anyone Moving to Albania:
We recommend attorney Tahir Tahja, who handled our company setup and residency.
► Book a FREE consult → https://www.smileabroad.al/residency
► Join our expat community → https://www.smileabroad.al