Law no. 10081, dated 23.02.2009 "On Licenses, Authorizations and Permits in the Republic of Albania", amended

The law sets out the principles for determining those economic activities or uses of public goods which are subject to the licensing and / or permitting process, as well as the principles for determining the conditions, procedures, validity periods and causes and procedures for their revocation. Licenses and permits, according to the fields and categories, as well as the fields of authorizations in the competence of the central institutions, are provided in the appendix that is attached to the law and is an integral part of it. Requests for licenses and permits provided in the appendix or their subcategories, as well as for authorizations, according to the fields provided in the appendix, or their categories and subcategories are treated as a rule:

• by or through the NBC, in this case the above-mentioned law provides for the procedures for submitting a request, review and decision-making;
  
  
• without the involvement of the NBC, in these special cases, the procedures are performed by the bodies determined according to the relevant legislation in force.
  
  
• DCM no. 538, dated 26/05/2009, "On Licenses and Permits handled by or through the National Business Center (NBC) and some other common bylaws", as amended

This DCM makes the distinction between licenses / permits treated by or through the NBC and licenses / permits treated without the involvement of the NBC.

Sectoral legislation 

The licensing / permitting process is also based on the sectoral legislation in force, which regulates the areas where a license / permit is required, defining, among others, the detailed criteria and probative documents necessary for obtaining the relevant license / permit.Legislation in the field of licensing / licensing can be consulted on the official website of the NBC.

Any natural or legal person, equipped in advance with NUIS (NIPT), who carries out an activity and / or uses a public good and / or performs one or more certain actions, for purposes of economic, commercial, professional and of any other similar nature, except those of a personal nature, which are included in the fields, categories and subcategories of the appendix to law no. 10081/2009, has the obligation to obtain a license / permit /authorisation.

Exercising activities and performing actions within this commercial activity, are, as a rule, free and are not subject to licensing or authorization. In special cases, when provided by law, the exercise of an activity or the performance of an action will be subject to the licensing or authorization process only if the following two circumstances are met

1. Exercising the activity or performing the action in the manner of irregular can affect the life, health, rights and legitimate interests of citizens, security and public order, national security, fair competition or well-functioning market, a public good, social objectives and any other public interest of this nature;
2. Adequate guarantee of the interests set out above, cannot be achieved without a process of self-declaration, review, inspection and evaluation of the fulfillment of certain predetermined criteria before the start of the activity or the performance of the action.

Special conditions and licensing / permitting criteria, as well as documentation proving the fulfillment of these conditions / criteria are well defined in DCM no. 538/2009 and in sectoral legislation.

According to the application procedure, decision-making deadlines, as well as the required documentation, licenses and permits that are handled by or through the NBC are divided into 3 groups:

• Group 1 includes those categories or subcategories for which the assessment of the fulfillment of the licensing criteria is based only on the applicant's self-declarations. The NBC considers the requests for group 1, according to the order of their submission and makes a decision within 2 working days from the date of submission of the request.
  
  
• Group 2 includes those categories or subcategories for which the assessment of compliance with the licensing criteria is based not only on self-declarations, but also on the probative documents submitted by the applicant. The NBC reviews the requests for group 2, according to the order of their submission and makes a decision within 4 working days from the date of submission of the request.
  
  
• Group 3 includes those categories or subcategories for which the assessment of the fulfillment of the licensing criteria, in addition to the self-declarations and probative documents submitted by the applicant, is also based on the performance of an inspection, testing, competition, interview, hearing or method other evaluation. NBC makes a decision depending on the deadline set in the sectoral legislation.

Persons in charge of submitting the request for obtaining a license / permit

The request is submitted by the legal representative of the entity that seeks to obtain a permit or license, or a person authorized by him, at the NBC counters.

Proof documentation to be submitted at the time of application

The person submitting the request, at the moment of application, must submit all the necessary probative and accompanying documentation defined in law no. 10081/2009, DCM no. 538/2009 and in special cases by sectoral legislation. Details on the categories and documentation can be found at the link. .

Ways of applying for a license / permit

Applications for a license / permit can be made in two ways:

• at the physical counters of the NBC service
• on-line via electronic portal