Albania’s entry into the Convention’s list was shadowed by the objections of five European states, and every one of those objections was withdrawn between 2011 and 2018. Türkiye never objected, so a Turkish document has travelled to Albania with an apostille since 2004. A single office places Albanian apostilles, the HCCH has no notification of an Albanian electronic apostille, and no additional regime between Albania and Türkiye removes the apostille. This page covers the history of the objections, the legalisation office, the chain without exemptions and the place of translation in both directions.
A relationship with Türkiye that dates from 2004
Albania acceded on 3 September 2003; its HCCH row shows 9 May 2004. Türkiye raised no objection within the six-month period, so the apostille relationship between the two states starts on that date, and the HCCH full report records no objection or declaration between Türkiye and Albania. The status itself is printed in the box above from this site’s country data. How a file legalised before 2004 is treated today was not verified in this site’s survey.
Five objections lifted between 2011 and 2018
According to the HCCH notification page, five states objected to Albania’s accession and all five later withdrew: Italy with effect from 26 May 2011, Belgium from 21 December 2015, Germany from 9 December 2016, Spain from 7 February 2017 and Greece from 26 February 2018. Today apostilles circulate between Albania and each of those states. The history matters in three-country files: a German document issued before 2016 went to Albania through the consular chain at the time, while the same document travels today with a German apostille. Between Türkiye and Albania the history has no effect.
Zyra e Legalizimeve: one office for every Albanian apostille
According to the HCCH authority page (18 January 2021), apostille competence in Albania lies with the Office of Authentications of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the page gives the Albanian name of the office as Zyra e Legalizimeve. There is no court or notary channel: whatever the document, there is one address. The office is named a legalisation office; whether it also performs legalisations other than apostilles was not checked on this site. The HCCH page states that the fee for foreign documents is set on the basis of reciprocity; no amount is written here.
No exemption treaty on the Albanian route
Albania has not acceded to ETS 063, CIEC 16 or CIEC 17. A birth, marriage or death extract issued in multilingual form (Formül A, B or C) by a Turkish nüfus müdürlüğü, the civil registry office, takes an apostille in Albania; documents presented with a view to marriage have no legalisation exemption; a document drawn up at the Turkish mission in Albania is outside the scope of the Apostille Convention, and with no 1968 exemption either, how an Albanian authority accepts it was not verified on this site. EU Regulation 2016/1191 works only between Member States; neither Albania nor Türkiye is covered by it.
No Albanian e-APP row and a record from January 2021
The HCCH e-APP chart of 13 August 2026 has no row for Albania; no electronic apostille or online register has been notified. A Turkish source fills part of that gap: in its Consolidated Circular 25 the Union of Turkish Notaries (TNB) counts Albania among the states that have moved to electronic apostilles, refers to the e-Albania document carrying a QR code, and tells notaries to look for it in line with the digitally signed e-apostille practice. How that QR code is read, and whether it leads to a register, the circular does not say. The authority page has not been updated since January 2021; if the office’s name or its parent unit has changed, the HCCH record does not show it. How Albanian authorities accept a document from e-Apostil, the official Turkish electronic apostille system, was not verified either; a holder sending one of the six document types covered by that system should ask in advance.
Translation between Albanian and Turkish, in both directions
For a Turkish document going to Albania, the apostille comes from the valilik (provincial governor’s office) or the kaymakamlık (district governor’s office) for administrative documents and notarial acts, and from the presidency of the judicial commission at a high criminal court seat for the original of a court document; an apostilled document is not taken to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The language and place of the translation are learned from the receiving Albanian institution; a translation made in Türkiye is certified by a notary and that certification receives its own apostille. An Albanian document reaches Türkiye with the apostille of the Office of Authentications, and the Turkish institution does not look for a legalisation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the document is presented with a Turkish translation certified by a notary, and that institution alone says whether the Albanian certificate belongs in it. In a notary’s office the circular mentioned above goes further for Albania: citing a bilateral agreement, it tells Turkish notaries not to look for any certification annotation on documents that competent Albanian authorities have drawn up, issued or certified with an official seal, or on certified copies of such documents. That instruction is written for notaries alone. A translation office only renders the text in this chain; it can explain the history of the objections, but it places no apostille.