The national electronic register on foreigners is now approved by the Albanian Government. Pursuant to law no. 79/2021 “On foreigners” The state authorities responsible for the treatment of foreigners have the right to collect and administer data on foreigners in order to make them available to the judiciary, national security authorities, refugee authorities and regional authorities, dealing with foreigners and who are interested in this field.
As a result of the right of the authorities to collect and administrate data on foreigners, DCM no. 857 dated 29.12.2021 “On the establishment and operation of the National Electronic Register for Foreigners (REKH) in the Republic of Albania” is approved.
- What is REKH?
REKH is a state database, which contains data on foreigners who enter or intend to enter the Republic of Albania, in order to stay, transit, employment, study, and leave the Republic of Albania.
This electronic register consists of 5 (five) main modules:
- Border control module, which contains data reflected and controlled by the Department for Border and Migration on entry and exit from the territory of the Republic of Albania;
- Visa module, which contains data reflected and controlled by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs on foreigners who are equipped with the types of visas provided by Albanian legislation;
- Module of unique permits and residence permits, which contains data reflected and controlled by the Directorate of Border and Migration and the National Agency for Employment and Skills, which contains data on all foreigners resident in Albania;
- The module for the treatment of foreigners with irregular stay in the territory, which contains data reflected and controlled by the Directorate of Border and Migration;
- Module of identification and travel documents for foreigners, which contains copies of these documents, used by the foreigner to enter the Republic of Albania and identify him.
Normally, the data in this Register will be treated in accordance with the law on personal data protection and will be made available to the relevant authorities only in necessary cases and for a limited period of time. It is worth mentioning that the administration of the registry data will be done by the structure responsible for information management and data protection in the General Directorate of State Police, while the technical administration of the system infrastructure is done by the National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI).