The Right of Foreigners to Study and to Research in the Republic of Albania

Abstract

The European Union has achieved much in promoting cross-border access to education in the course of the last two-and-a-half decades. Free movement of students is one of EU law’s most important achievements in the general context of free movement of persons. Today, EU law confers far-reaching educational rights upon workers and their family members and it entitles all EU citizens to move to other Member States to take up studies. The right to education is one of the basic human rights, which is recognized in the Albanian legislation as well. The right to education is granted to Albanian citizens, all foreigners and stateless persons resident in the Republic of Albania alike. Albania has especially changed its legislation to improve its alignment with the standards of the EU necessary for its eventual accession. As it is known Albania has transposed all EU directives relating to immigration and asylum into its national legal system and now it participates in the negotiations on new migration and asylum rules at a regional level as well. This paper seeks to provide an overview of rules in Albania for foreign students and researchers in the Republic of Albania. It also highlights some of the challenges in the application, interpretation and development of immigration rules for students and researchers currently present in the Republic of Albania, especially the Law “On Foreigners”. The objective was to trace the main institutional and legal procedures applicable to foreign citizens who seek to study and research in Albania, to analyze the data on students and researchers in Albania and to reflect on these findings.