Kosovo dual citizenship: yes, you can keep your other passport

Kosovo allows dual and multiple citizenship without conditions. A Kosovo citizen may also be a citizen of one or more other states, and acquiring or holding another citizenship does not cost you Kosovo citizenship. That is Article 4 of the new citizenship law, Law No. 10/L-023, which was published in the Official Gazette on 6 May 2026 and replaced the 2013 law. There is no list of approved countries, so the answer is the same whether your other passport is American, German, Swiss or Swedish.

The short answer

• Kosovo citizens who naturalise abroad: they stay Kosovo citizens. Taking US, German or any other citizenship does not end Kosovo citizenship.
• Descendants claiming Kosovo citizenship: they keep their current citizenship. The 1 January 1998 route applies whatever citizenship you hold and wherever you live.
• Children born abroad to a Kosovo parent: they can hold both, but if one parent has another citizenship, both parents must agree in writing, and the child must be registered by 18.
• The only ways to lose it: asking to be released, deprivation on narrow national-security grounds, or an international treaty.

What the law says about holding two citizenships

Article 4 of Law No. 10/L-023 has two short paragraphs:

1. A citizen of the Republic of Kosovo may also be a citizen of one or more other states.
2. The acquisition and holding of another citizenship shall not result in the loss of the citizenship of the Republic of Kosovo.

The 2013 law said the same thing in its Article 3, so the rule has not changed; only the article number has. Kosovo doesn’t ask you to renounce a foreign citizenship when you register through a parent or ancestor, and it doesn’t take Kosovo citizenship away when you naturalise somewhere else.

Ordinary naturalisation for foreigners with no family link (Article 10) needs five years’ residence after a permanent residence permit, and the law still doesn’t list giving up your other citizenship as a condition. Most readers of this site will use one of the family routes below instead.

Who can claim Kosovo citizenship and keep their other one

Children of a Kosovo citizen (Article 6)

Under the 2026 law, a child is born a Kosovo citizen if at least one parent is a Kosovo citizen at the time of birth. A child can also be registered if a parent had habitual-resident status acquired through parentage. For children born abroad, three conditions apply:

• Written agreement of both parents if one parent has a citizenship other than Kosovo’s. A child aged 14 to 18 must consent too. If the child would otherwise be stateless, the parents’ consent isn’t needed.
• Registration by age 18. Children born abroad can exercise the right to register as citizens up to 18, or up to 23 if they would otherwise be stateless.
• Timing of the parent’s citizenship. Article 6 doesn’t apply to children born before their parent acquired Kosovo citizenship or habitual-resident status.

This replaces the 2013 rule, under which a child with one foreign parent needed the parents’ written consent before the child’s 14th birthday. If you missed the registration window, the 1 January 1998 rule or the diaspora route may still work for you.

Descendants of 1 January 1998 residents (Article 31)

This is the route most of the diaspora should check first. Article 31 says Kosovo recognises the right to citizenship, “regardless of their current place of residence and the citizenship they hold”, of every citizen of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who was a permanent resident of Kosovo on 1 January 1998, and their direct descendants. The text sets no generation limit, so children, grandchildren and further descendants are all covered.

Registration happens on application by the person who meets the conditions. The evidence and procedure for proving Yugoslav citizenship and permanent residence in Kosovo on 1 January 1998 are to be set by a bylaw of the Minister of Internal Affairs. Until new bylaws are issued (the law gives the Minister a year), existing bylaws keep applying as long as they don’t conflict with the new law. In practice, civil-registry entries, Yugoslav-era or UNMIK-era identity documents, and property, school or employment records from the time are the kind of evidence the Kosovo citizenship by descent guide describes.

Members of the diaspora (Article 15)

A member of the diaspora can naturalise without the usual requirements of adult age, five years’ residence and language knowledge. The law defines a member of the diaspora as a person living lawfully outside Kosovo who can prove they were born in Kosovo and have close family and economic relations with it, and also every direct descendant of such a person who keeps close family or economic relations in Kosovo. Under the 2013 law, only the first generation of descendants counted. The criteria for “close relations” are set by a ministerial bylaw.

How Kosovo citizenship can be lost

Article 18 says a citizen can’t be deprived of Kosovo citizenship except as the law provides, and lists three ways it can be lost: release, deprivation, and international treaties. Acquiring another citizenship is not on the list.

• Release, at your own request (Article 19). You must already hold another citizenship or have a guarantee from another state that you will get one, have met your financial obligations to the state and to people you are legally obliged to support, and not be facing criminal proceedings or serving a sentence. Civil servants, judges, prosecutors, police and members of the Kosovo Security Force or other security institutions are refused, and a request can be refused on security or international-relations grounds. The Ministry can issue a guarantee in advance, valid for two years, if a new country needs proof that Kosovo will let you go.
• Deprivation (Article 22). Only possible if you hold another citizenship and engage in activities that endanger Kosovo’s national security, such as joining an organisation aiming to destroy its constitutional order, or serving in another state’s intelligence, police, military or security forces without permission. A person whose registration as a habitual resident under UNMIK Regulation 2000/13 is found to have been unlawful can also lose citizenship (Article 30). Deprivation decisions can be challenged in court.
• International treaties. The law names this as a ground but no treaty is listed in it.

Separately, a naturalisation obtained through false statements or concealed facts is revoked, and the person can’t apply again for five years (Article 17).

If your family gave up Kosovo citizenship

Some people in the diaspora were released from Kosovo citizenship in the past, usually because the country they moved to required it. Under Article 16 they can reacquire it on application. The 2026 law cut the requirements to two: a sworn written declaration accepting Kosovo’s constitutional and legal order, and proof of no final criminal conviction abroad. The Ministry must decide within 30 days. A child of a person who reacquires citizenship can acquire it at the same time.

If the reason for the release was that your other country made you choose, check that country’s current rules before reacquiring. Germany, for example, has allowed dual citizenship since 2024; see our Germany guide.

What descendants in the US and elsewhere should know

• The US side. The State Department says US law doesn’t require a citizen to choose between US citizenship and another nationality. You must still use your US passport to enter and leave the United States. More in our guide to European citizenship by descent for Americans.
• Recognition. Kosovo is not recognised by every state, including Serbia, and some non-recognising states don’t accept a Kosovo passport. Plan travel around your other passport where that matters.
• Where to apply. Applications go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a municipal office in Kosovo, or, from abroad, the nearest Kosovo embassy or consulate, which forwards them. The Ministry may also allow electronic applications.
• How long it takes. The law gives 180 days for acquisition, 30 days for reacquisition and 90 days for release, and appeals go to a Citizenship Appeals Commission. Fees are set by the Minister and aren’t in the law.
• Documents. Expect birth and marriage records for each generation, translated into Albanian or Serbian. Our document chain guide and apostille guide cover the paperwork.

Kosovo is unusual among its neighbours. Albania also allows dual citizenship, but Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro tie it to bilateral agreements; see Bosnian dual citizenship and dual citizenship by descent, country by country. To check which routes fit your family, try the free eligibility checker.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Official Gazette of the Republic of Kosovo: Law No. 10/L-023 on Citizenship of Republic of Kosovo (Official Gazette No. 7, 6 May 2026; repeals Law No. 04/L-215. Articles 4, 6, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, 31, 32 and 34 of the official English text)
• Law No. 04/L-215 on Citizenship of Kosovo (2013), as published in the Official Gazette, English (GLOBALCIT copy) (the repealed law: Article 3 on multiple citizenship and the earlier Article 6 consent rule)
• German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF): Kosovo citizenship law country note, August 2026 (German) (confirms that Law No. 10/L-023 is in force and replaced the 2013 law)
• US Department of State: Dual Nationality

Checked against these sources on 29 October 2026. The 2026 law was read in the official English text published on the Official Gazette site; Kosovo’s official languages are Albanian and Serbian, and those texts prevail. The implementing bylaws under the new law had not been found on that date. travel.state.gov refused automated access, so the US point restates our guide for Americans. Only Kosovo’s Ministry of Internal Affairs can decide your case; confirm with it or a Kosovo embassy before you apply.