Chaos in the granting of Albanian citizenship, institutions drag out applications beyond deadlines - the process has been blocked for months

Hundreds of files from citizens who want to obtain Albanian citizenship have filled state institutions, starting from the State Police, the Ministry of the Interior and the President's institution for at least a year.

Most of the files have been in the drawers of the institutions for a long time, while the citizens wander through the state offices purposefully and without getting answers about the real reasons for blocking the process.

From a few months of research done by Telegraph Albania in the offices of the State Police and the Ministry of the Interior, it is found that in many cases citizens are denied the right to information about the status of their application.

At best they receive truncated information that does not explain the blocking of their files and the passing of citizenship deadlines.

Delays and delays have not been absent for the citizens of Kosovo or the Albanians in the countries of the region, who in some cases are even the most "discriminated".

Many Albanians from Kosovo or from the lands inhabited by Albanians in the region are disappointed by their mother country as they are blocked without explanation in obtaining an Albanian passport, which for many of them is a dream that is expected to come true.

While the process of relinquishing citizenship is somewhat less problematic, obtaining citizenship has become a real challenge for foreign citizens who meet all kinds of criteria for obtaining an Albanian passport but are unable to obtain it.

The biggest concern of the citizens is the negligence and lack of responsibility from the institutions, which blame each other for delays and lack of information.

The situation has further worsened in recent months where the Ministry of the Interior has reduced to a minimum the waiting time of citizens for citizenship issues from every day that was before, to one hour a week.

Meanwhile, in the offices of the State Police, citizens are kept waiting for hours for a simple piece of information that is often not provided.

Telegraph Albania has also proven the complete lack of communication between institutions to solve problems as well as the scandalous management of applications that are not in few cases forgotten in the institutions' drawers or in a confirmed case a document of an application was lost causing irreparable damage and irresponsible delays.

There are also cases when institutions blame citizens for mistakes or delays that they themselves have caused.

In communication with employees of the institutions, Telegraph Albania received contradictory answers. In some cases it is said that the process has been blocked by the Presidency, while in other cases the responsibility is "left orphaned".

No one answers why hundreds of files are waiting, which in most cases are regular applications according to the directives for obtaining citizenship established by the Albanian state.

Also, none of the institutions bear responsibility for the delays that are creating financial damage and concern for many citizens who have contributed for years and have stayed regularly in Albania.

For more, Telegraph Albania has addressed the Ministry of the Interior to clarify the issue. However, the email sent to the address of the General Directorate of Development for Migration and Asylum in the ministry has not received a response. The situation remains without a concrete solution. /Telegraph/