Go Back
Menu
Can a German pensioner move to Albania? Yes. Albanian law has a residence permit for foreign pensioners, valid for a year and renewable every year, and its implementing decision asks for a pension of at least 1,200,000 lek a year, about €12,900 at the October 2026 rate. The German statutory pension is paid to Albania in full and, under the double tax treaty, taxed only there. The part that needs planning is health insurance, which neither the German statutory system nor the bilateral agreement carries over. Below are the permit, the pension, the taxes, the insurance and what a flat by the sea costs to own.
Without a permit a German may stay 90 days within any 180, entering with a passport or an identity card. For a longer stay there are two routes:
Applications go through the e-Albania portal. The German Foreign Office advises applying within the first 30 days after arrival and bringing an apostilled German certificate of good conduct, which the application needs. Albanian law also asks a foreigner to register with the local migration office, as a rule within 10 days of entry.
Germany and Albania signed a social security agreement on 23 September 2015; it has been in force since 1 December 2017. Pensions are paid to the other country in full, and insurance periods in both countries count. The German pension insurance office responsible for Albania is Deutsche Rentenversicherung Rheinland-Pfalz in Speyer. Once a year you send a proof of life, on the form the pension service sends or digitally; without it payments can stop.
Article 18 of the double tax treaty of 6 April 2010 gives the right to tax pensions only to the country where you live. That includes the German statutory pension: the treaty's explanatory memorandum records that Albania refused a source-country right for it. The tax office responsible for pensioners abroad, Finanzamt Neubrandenburg, lists Albania among the countries where a resident is not taxed in Germany. Civil-service pensions are different: under Article 19 Germany keeps taxing them unless you are both resident in Albania and an Albanian citizen.
How Albania itself taxes a foreign pension we could not verify from an official source. Before you move, ask an Albanian tax adviser and get a certificate of tax residence, which the German tax office will want.
The social security agreement coordinates pensions only. Of the agreements Germany has with countries outside the EU, health insurance is included only in those with Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Tunisia, according to the federal government; Albania is not among them. German statutory insurance is tied to living in Germany, so the pensioners' health insurance (KVdR) usually ends when you move to Albania. Plan for private international health insurance and confirm the details with your health insurer before you deregister.
A flat by the sea is cheap to run. For a 60 m² flat with two occupants we estimate €93-112 a month in any coastal town, internet and the building fee included; in winter about €50 of that is electricity, because Albanian flats heat with air conditioners. The annual property tax is 0.05% of the fiscal value, a few tens of euros a year for a typical flat. Our article on utilities in Albania has the tariffs.
Buying is a separate decision from moving. Asking prices on the coast run from about €1,100 per m² in Golem and Shëngjin to €3,500 on the promenades of Vlorë and Sarandë; in Durrës the median of the flats listed on Domlivo was €1,500 per m² on 18.10.2026. Our overview of prices by coastal town and our guide to buying from Germany cover the rest.
Our research ranks Vlorë first among the coastal towns for retirees: it is a working city all year, with hospitals. Sarandë has the mildest winter but weaker medical care, and much of Ksamil closes outside the season. Durrës is the coastal city nearest to Tirana. Our earlier article on retiring to the Albanian coast compares the towns in more detail.
The government decision implementing Article 85 of Law 79/2021 asks for a pension certificate and a pension income of 1,200,000 lek a year, about €12,900 at the October 2026 rate. The permit lasts up to a year and is renewed every year while the conditions hold.
Yes, in full. The German-Albanian social security agreement has been in force since 1 December 2017, and pensions are paid to the other country without reduction. Once a year you must send a proof of life to the pension service, or payments can stop.
Not on a statutory pension. Under Article 18 of the 2010 double tax treaty only Albania may tax it, and Finanzamt Neubrandenburg lists Albania among the countries where residents are not taxed in Germany. Civil-service pensions remain taxable in Germany.
Usually not. The social security agreement with Albania covers pensions only, and German statutory insurance is tied to living in Germany, so the pensioners' insurance generally ends when you move. Arrange private international health insurance and confirm with your insurer before deregistering.
No. The pensioner's permit depends on your pension, not on owning property. Owning a flat is a separate ground for a permit under Article 84, with no minimum price in the law. Many people rent first and buy once they know the town in winter.
