1.   Albania shall readmit, upon application by a Member State and without further formalities other than those provided for in this Agreement, all persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry into, presence in, or residence on, the territory of the requesting Member State provided that it is proved, or may be validly assumed on the basis of prima facie evidence furnished, that they are nationals of Albania.

The same shall apply to persons who have been deprived of, or who have renounced, the nationality of Albania since entering the territory of a Member State, unless such persons have at least been promised naturalisation by that Member State.

2.   Albania shall, as necessary and without delay, issue the person whose readmission has been accepted with the travel document required for his or her return with a period of validity of at least six months. If, for legal or factual reasons, the person concerned cannot be transferred within the period of validity of the travel document that was initially issued, Albania shall, within 14 calendar days, extend the validity of the travel document or, where necessary, issue a new travel document with the same period of validity. If Albania has not, within 14 calendar days, issued the travel document, extended its validity or, where necessary, renewed it, it shall be deemed to accept the use of the EU standard travel document for expulsion purposes (1).

1.   Albania shall readmit, upon application by a Member State and without further formalities other than those provided for in this Agreement, all third-country nationals or stateless persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry into, presence in, or residence on, the territory of the requesting Member State provided that it is proved, or may be validly assumed on the basis of prima facie evidence furnished, that such persons

2.   The readmission obligation in paragraph 1 shall not apply if

3.   Albania shall, as necessary and without delay, issue the person whose readmission has been accepted with the travel document required for his or her return with a period of validity of at least six months. If, for legal or factual reasons, the person concerned cannot be transferred within the period of validity of the travel document that was initially issued, Albania shall, within 14 calendar days, extend the validity of the travel document or, where necessary, issue a new travel document with the same period of validity. If Albania has not, within 14 calendar days, issued the travel document, extended its validity or, where necessary, renewed it, it shall be deemed to accept the use of the EU standard travel document for expulsion purposes.

1.   A Member State shall readmit, upon application by Albania and without further formalities other than those provided for in this Agreement, all persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry into, presence in, or residence on, the territory of Albania provided that it is proved, or may be validly assumed on the basis of prima facie evidence furnished, that they are nationals of that Member State.

The same shall apply to persons who have been deprived of, or who have renounced, the nationality of a Member State since entering the territory of Albania unless such persons have at least been promised naturalisation by Albania.

2.   A Member State shall, as necessary and without delay, issue the person whose readmission has been accepted with the travel document required for his or her return with a period of validity of at least six months. If, for legal or factual reasons, the person concerned cannot be transferred within the period of validity of the travel document that was initially issued, the Member State concerned shall, within 14 calendar days, extend the validity of the travel document or, where necessary, issue a new travel document with the same period of validity. If the Member State concerned has not, within 14 calendar days, issued the travel document, extended its validity or, where necessary, renewed it, it shall be deemed to accept the use of the Albanian certificate for expulsion purposes (2).

1.   A Member State shall readmit, upon application by Albania and without further formalities other than those provided for in this Agreement, all third-country nationals or stateless persons who do not, or who no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry into, presence in, or residence on, the territory of Albania provided that it is proved, or may be validly assumed on the basis of prima facie evidence furnished, that such persons

2.   The readmission obligation in paragraph 1 shall not apply if

3.   The readmission obligation in paragraph 1 is for the Member State that issued a visa or residence authorisation. If two or more Member States issued a visa or residence authorisation, the readmission obligation in paragraph 1 is for the Member State that issued the document with a longer period of validity or, if one or several of them have already expired, the document that is still valid. If all of the documents have already expired, the readmission obligation in paragraph 1 is for the Member State that issued the document with the most recent expiry date. If no such documents can be presented, the readmission obligation in paragraph 1 is for the Member State of last exit.

4.   A Member State shall, as necessary and without delay, issue the person whose readmission has been accepted with the travel document required for his or her return with a period of validity of at least six months. If, for legal or factual reasons, the person concerned cannot be transferred within the period of validity of the travel document that was initially issued, the Member State concerned shall, within 14 calendar days, extend the validity of the travel document or, where necessary, issue a new travel document with the same period of validity. If the Member State concerned has not within 14 calendar days issued the travel document, extended its validity or, where necessary, renewed it, it shall be deemed to accept the use of the Albanian certificate for expulsion purposes.

1.   Subject to paragraph 2, any transfer of a person to be readmitted on the basis of one of the obligations contained in Articles 2 to 5 shall require the submission of a readmission application to the competent authority of the requested State.

2.   The readmission application may be replaced by a written communication to the competent authority of the requested State within a reasonable time period prior to the return of the person concerned provided that the person to be readmitted is in possession of a valid travel document and, where applicable, a valid visa or residence authorisation of the requested State.

1.   To the extent possible, the readmission application shall contain the following information:

2.   To the extent possible, the readmission application shall also contain the following information:

3.   A common form to be used for readmission applications is attached as Annex 5 to this Agreement.

1.   Proof of nationality pursuant to Articles 2(1) and 4(1) can be particularly furnished through any of the documents listed in Annex 1 to this Agreement, even if their period of validity has expired. If such documents are presented, the Member States and Albania shall mutually recognise the nationality without further investigation being required. Proof of nationality cannot be furnished through false documents.

2.   Prima facie evidence of nationality pursuant to Articles 2(1) and 4(1) can be particularly furnished through any of the documents listed in Annex 2 to this Agreement, even if their period of validity has expired. If such documents are presented, the Member States and Albania shall deem the nationality to be established, unless they can prove otherwise. Prima facie evidence of nationality cannot be furnished through false documents.

3.   If none of the documents listed in Annexes 1 or 2 can be presented, the competent diplomatic and consular representations of Albania or the Member State concerned shall, upon request, make arrangements to interview the person to be readmitted without undue delay in order to establish his or her nationality.

1.   Proof of the conditions for the readmission of third-country nationals and stateless persons laid down in Articles 3(1) and 5(1) shall be particularly furnished through any of the means of evidence listed in Annex 3 to this Agreement; it cannot be furnished through false documents. Any such proof shall be mutually recognised by the Member States and Albania without any further investigation being required.

2.   Prima facie evidence of the conditions for the readmission of third-country nationals and stateless persons laid down in Articles 3(1) and 5(1) shall be particularly furnished through any of the means of evidence listed in Annex 4 to this Agreement; it cannot be furnished through false documents. Where such prima facie evidence is presented, the Member States and Albania shall deem the conditions to be established, unless they can prove otherwise.

3.   The unlawfulness of entry, presence or residence shall be established by means of the travel documents of the person concerned in which the necessary visa or other residence authorisation for the territory of the requesting State are missing. A statement by the requesting state that the person concerned has been found not having the necessary travel documents, visa or residence authorisation shall likewise provide prima facie evidence of the unlawful entry, presence or residence.

1.   The application for readmission must be submitted to the competent authority of the requested State within a maximum of one year after the requesting State’s competent authority has gained knowledge that a third-country national or a stateless person does not, or does no longer, fulfil the conditions in force for entry, presence or residence. Where there are legal or factual obstacles to the application being submitted in time, the time limit shall, upon request by the requesting State, be extended but only until the obstacles have ceased to exist.

2.   A readmission application must be replied to without undue delay, and in any event within a maximum of 14 calendar days; reasons shall be given for refusal of a readmission request. This time limit begins to run with the date of receipt of the readmission request. If there was no reply within this time limit, the transfer shall be deemed to have been agreed to.

3.   After agreement has been given or, where appropriate, after expiry of the 14 calendar day time limit, the person concerned shall be transferred without undue delay and, at the most, within three months. Upon application by the requesting State, this time limit may be extended by the time taken to deal with legal or practical obstacles.

1.   Before returning a person, the competent authorities of Albania and the Member State concerned shall make arrangements in writing in advance regarding the transfer date, the point of entry, possible escorts and other information relevant to the transfer.

2.   No means of transportation, whether by air, land or sea, shall be prohibited. Return by air shall not be restricted to the use of the national carriers of Albania or the Member States and may take place by using scheduled or charter flights. In the event of escorted returns, such escorts shall not be restricted to authorised persons of the requesting State, provided that they are authorised persons from Albania or any Member State.

1.   The Member States and Albania should restrict the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons to cases where such persons cannot be returned to the State of destination directly.

2.   Albania shall allow the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons if a Member State so requests, and a Member State shall authorise the transit of third-country nationals or stateless persons if Albania so requests, if the onward journey in possible other States of transit and the readmission by the State of destination is assured.

3.   Transit can be refused by Albania or a Member State

4.   Albania or a Member State may revoke any authorisation issued if circumstances referred to in paragraph 3 subsequently arise or come to light which stand in the way of the transit operation, or if the onward journey in possible States of transit or the readmission by the State of destination is no longer assured. In this case, the requesting State shall take back the third-country national or the stateless person, as necessary and without delay.

1.   An application for transit operations shall be submitted to the competent authority of the requested State in writing and shall contain the following information:

2.   The requested State shall, within five calendar days and in writing, inform the requesting State of the admission, confirming the point of entry and the envisaged time of admission, or inform it of the admission refusal and of the reasons for such refusal.

3.   If the transit operation takes place by air, the person to be readmitted and possible escorts shall be exempted from having to obtain an airport transit visa.

4.   The competent authorities of the requested State shall, subject to mutual consultations, assist in the transit operations, in particular through the surveillance of the persons in question and the provision of suitable amenities for that purpose.

1.   This Agreement shall be without prejudice to the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the Community, the Member States and Albania arising from International Law and, in particular, from the European Convention of 4 November 1950 for the Protection of Human Rights, the Convention of 28 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 on the Status of Refugees, and international instruments on extradition.

2.   Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent the return of a person under other formal or informal arrangements.

1.   The Contracting Parties shall provide each other with mutual assistance in the application and interpretation of this Agreement. To this end, they shall set up a joint readmission committee (hereinafter referred to as the committee) which will, in particular, have the task

2.   The decisions of the committee shall be binding on the Contracting Parties.

3.   The committee shall be composed of representatives of the Community and Albania; the Community shall be represented by the Commission, assisted by experts from Member States.

4.   The committee shall meet where necessary at the request of one of the Contracting Parties.

5.   The committee shall establish its rules of procedure.

1.   Albania and a Member State may draw up implementing Protocols which shall cover rules on

2.   The implementing Protocols referred to in paragraph 1 shall enter into force only after the readmission committee, referred to in Article 18, has been notified.

3.   Albania agrees to apply any provision of an implementing Protocol drawn up with one Member State also in its relations with any other Member State upon request of the latter.

1.   Subject to paragraph 2, this Agreement shall apply to the territory in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applicable and to the territory of Albania.

2.   This Agreement shall not apply to the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

1.   This Agreement shall be ratified or approved by the Contracting Parties in accordance with their respective procedures.

2.   Subject to paragraph 3, this Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Contracting Parties notify each other that the procedures referred to in the first paragraph have been completed.

3.   Articles 3 and 5 of this Agreement shall enter into force two years after the date referred to in paragraph 2.

4.   This Agreement is concluded for an unlimited period.

5.   Each Contracting Party may denounce this Agreement by officially notifying the other Contracting Party. This Agreement shall cease to apply six months after the date of such notification.