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Built by volunteers · 501(c)(3) filed · Your data stays yours
Count Me Albanian.
Albanian, Kosovar, Çam, Arbëresh — anywhere in your family tree.
Register in 2 minutes. Get counted. Connect to the Albanian community. The Census records 224,000 of us — we know it's closer to a million. Get your certificate. Help show the real number.
The Census ancestry question records about 224,000. The broader Albanian community — roots in Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Çamëria, plus English-first second and third generations — runs closer to a million. NAR is the community-led count that runs alongside it.
NAR is not the U.S. Census. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey is the official federal count and stays essential — please complete the ACS when it arrives. We run the community-led parallel count alongside it.
"If we're not counted, we're invisible — in data, in funding, in representation."
Ervin Toro · Founder, NAR
Why this matters
Visibility first. Then recognition. Then everything else.
Federal funding runs on the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey. No community-built registry has ever moved a federal funding formula on its own — not the Brandeis American Jewish Population Project (the most sophisticated non-Census diaspora count in the country, 20+ years in, zero federal dollars), not AAPI Data, not anyone.
That's NAR's lane. We're the community-led parallel count alongside the Census ACS, built so Albanian-Americans become visible to the systems that already exist. The recognition wins come from sustained organizing on top of a credible count — never overnight, never automatic, never guaranteed. The U.S. Census ACS is the official federal count. Fill it out when it arrives. NAR sits alongside it.
A community count is the starting line, not the finish.
The honest list
What the count moves — and what it doesn't.
We wrote the deep-dives ourselves. Here's the short version per federal lever, lifted from those long-form pieces. Every line traces to a sourced FAQ in the linked blog.
Voting Rights Act · §203
Bilingual ballots.
Can: Document the population case for state and local laws — like NYC Charter §1057-a or Hamtramck's 2022 Arabic-ballot resolution — that apply the same threshold model open to other languages.
Can't: Move §203 itself. §203 covers four named groups (American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian American, Spanish heritage). Albanian isn't on the list. The list has been closed since 1975. Even at 100 million Albanian-American voters, §203 as written wouldn't apply. The barrier is the closed list, not the count.
Can: Supply Factor 1 evidence — a methodology-documented, geo-buckable Albanian count — to specific hospitals, school districts, courts, and legal-aid orgs as part of their four-factor Title VI compliance plans.
Can't: Trigger translation anywhere automatically. Title VI is open-group but per-recipient and complaint-driven. The "lesser of 5% or 1,000" is a DOJ safe harbor (defense, not federal mandate). Each recipient owes its own four-factor analysis against its own catchment.
Can: Strengthen Albanian-focused NRC and FLAS applications from US universities. Documented community size is one input the rubric considers, alongside faculty pipeline and institutional commitment.
Can't: Change a federal grant decision on its own. The NRC and FLAS competitions are awarded by Department of Education panels to institutions that apply with research and teaching plans. Community-led data alone doesn't decide an award; it improves the inputs that go into one.
Three decades on this side of the ocean — I came from Fier at thirteen in 1997. The U.S. Census still files most of us as "other." Anyone who's been to a wedding in the Bronx, a community hall in Detroit, or a Saturday gathering in Yonkers knows the real count is closer to a million.
So we're counting ourselves. Eight Albanian Americans, volunteers, nights and weekends. No data sales. No paid staff. No government tie-ins.
The aim: a verified count of Albanians in America, built by hand and by name — so when someone asks how many of us are here, the answer comes from us. If you're Albanian or Albanian-descended in America, that includes you. More about the team and the why →
Built by Albanian Americans
Not a tech company. Not a government. Albanians counting Albanians.
Ervin Toro, MBA
Founder & President
New York
Iliriana Sela, MS, MBA
Director of Outreach
National
Erold Merko
Treasurer
Michigan
Nalvi Duro
Secretary
Florida
Marsel Alickolli
Outreach
Texas
Esti Gajda
Engineering
Michigan
Leart Ulaj
Product
New York
Enri Zhulati
Product & Web
Texas
Eight Albanian American volunteers across five states. Nobody takes a paycheck. The 501(c)(3) is filed. About →
Our promise
We will never sell, share, or hand over your data — to any third party, advertiser, or government agency, foreign or domestic. We do not collect immigration status. You can delete your record at any time. We complete it within 30 days.
— Signed, the volunteer board of the National Albanian Registry.
"This endeavor is long overdue, as the undercounting of Albanian Americans costs us in so many ways. Applaud the work of these fine folks to reveal and validate our presence in this great nation."
Richard Lukaj
Senior Managing Director, Bank Street Group
"People hesitate to share their information — that was my experience during the 2010 Census. I do endorse this effort. Getting counted in a census, of any kind, means more bragging rights and more power."
What we can do with your data. What we can't. How it's enforced.
NAR doesn't belong to one person. We collect only what's needed to count you and mail your commemorative Certificate of Albanian Identity. Every rule below is written into the bylaws or the database itself — not a policy we can quietly change. Privacy policy →
i
What we collect
Required
+Name and email
+Date of birth and gender
+ZIP code (state derived from it)
+Country of birth
+Albanian origin (you can pick more than one)
+Generational status in the U.S.
Plus a handful of optional fields you can leave blank and still be counted — phone, education, business ownership, religious affiliation, parents' birth info, language proficiency. Full list at /privacy.
Never
−Social Security number
−Immigration status
−Home address or ID documents
−Payment information
ii
What you get back
Yes
+Your name in the verified Albanian-American total
+A commemorative Certificate of Albanian Identity, emailed to you
+The Albania 2020 citizenship-by-descent guide
+Events and regional-ambassador intros, if you opt in
−The eight themselves, for personal, business, or political benefit — Article XII prohibits it; every database change is permanently logged. How it works →
iv
What the count makes possible
Yes
+Annual Impact Report — state and ancestry counts, published openly
+A verified source when journalists, researchers, or funders cite Albanian-American numbers
+Where we seat regional ambassadors, host events, and route grant work
+Representation where Albanian Americans get undercounted — Census methodology, policy briefs, redistricting
Never
−Your individual record tied to any of this — only aggregates leave the registry
−Religion, politics, or sensitive demographics published as anything but population counts
Enforcement
What stops anyone — including us — from breaking these rules.
01
No one person controls this.
Every change to how data is collected, used, or shared requires at least two of eight managing-board members to approve, and each proposal is filed in the public governance log before anything ships. After IRS approval, a third-party custodian will hold the codebase, database, and bank account independently — so no single board member can act alone on what's stored.
The audit log records every change and every email forever, with the actor's email — even a developer changing a single line in the database leaves a permanent entry. Two database triggers prevent rewriting or deleting that history. Corrections add new rows; they never replace old ones.
If any government compels us to release records — federal, state, or foreign — we narrow the scope to the legal minimum, notify you before disclosure unless the order itself includes a gag clause, and publish every request in the annual transparency report. Written into Article VII of the bylaws.
The site flips to read-only the moment dissolution is approved; registrant data is then deleted per Article IX. Your certificate keeps verifying through a tamper-proof signature anchored to a public key, independent of NAR's servers — even after dissolution. No record is sold, transferred, or handed to a successor.
How many Albanian Americans are there in the United States?
The U.S. Census counts approximately 224,000 Albanian Americans (2024). Community estimates that include ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Çamëria, Arbëreshë descendants, and second- and third-generation Albanian Americans place the real number closer to one million. NAR is producing a verified community count.
Why does this matter for me?
Federal funding runs on the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey — not on community-built registries. No diaspora organization has converted a self-built count into a federal funding formula; the Brandeis American Jewish Population Project (20+ years, the most sophisticated non-Census diaspora count in the country) funds internal community planning, not federal allocations. What community counts have moved is recognition: the Arab American Institute's 40-year campaign for the 2024 OMB MENA category, the Sikh Coalition's 2013 FBI hate-crime category, AAPI Data's push for sub-group disaggregation under OMB SPD-15. Recognition opens the door to visibility in federal data systems, to political organizing pressure, to internal community planning. The Census ACS stays essential — please fill it out when it comes. NAR is the community-led parallel count that sits alongside it, built so Albanian-Americans become visible to the systems that already exist. We're at step one of that ladder. The recognition wins come from sustained organizing on top of a credible count — never overnight, never automatic, never guaranteed.
Are you making money off this?
No. NAR is a nonprofit organization. The 501(c)(3) application is filed with the IRS; confirmation is pending. The board is volunteer. Funding comes from individual donations and Albanian-owned business sponsorships. Annual financials are published openly. No paid staff, no advertising, no data sales — ever.
Is my personal information safe?
Yes. We will never sell, share, or hand over your data — to any third party, advertiser, or government agency, foreign or domestic. Data is encrypted at rest in U.S. servers, accessed only by named board administrators on an email allowlist. You can request a full export or permanent deletion at any time. We never collect immigration status or anything we do not strictly need.
Will my registration be shared with ICE, DHS, or any government?
Never. We are not a government registry, we have no government affiliation, and we will not respond to government data requests for individual records. We do not collect Social Security numbers, addresses (city is optional), or immigration status. If we are ever compelled by court order, we narrow the scope to the legal minimum, notify you before disclosure unless the order itself includes a gag clause, and publish every request in our annual transparency report. This is written into Article VII as non-negotiable.
Can I get Albanian citizenship by descent?
Yes. Albania's 2020 Citizenship Law (No. 113/2020) extends citizenship by descent up to a great-grandparent. No residence requirement. Dual citizenship permitted. Processing typically 6–12 months. After registering with NAR, we email you a step-by-step consulate guide.
I am not 'fully' Albanian — does that matter?
No. If you self-identify as Albanian — by birth, descent, ethnicity, or marriage into the family — you belong on this registry. We include Kosovars, Macedonian Albanians, Montenegrin Albanians, Çams from Greek Epirus, Arbëreshë from southern Italy, and anyone with Albanian heritage anywhere on the family tree.
I submitted my registration but didn't receive my certificate — what do I do?
Check your spam or junk folder first — certificate emails sometimes land there. If it's not there within a few minutes, search your inbox for 'Albanian Registry' or 'albanianregistry.org'. Still nothing? Email us at support@albanianregistry.org and we'll resend it.
Who is behind NAR?
Eight Albanian American volunteers across five states. Ervin Toro (Founder & President, Fier → New York, 1997) also serves as President of the NY Chapter of the Albanian American National Organization. Erold Merko (Treasurer, Michigan), Nalvi Duro (Secretary, Florida), and Iliriana Sela (Director of Community Outreach, National) round out the officers, with Marsel Alickolli (TX Outreach Lead), Esti Gajda, Leart Ulaj, and Enri Zhulati on operations. Nobody is paid. The 501(c)(3) is filed. About us at /about.
Voices from creators
Albanian-American creators on registering.
Recorded at the United Albanian Festival in Staten Island, May 2026. Two unscripted clips. Tap any to watch with sound.
Your name on the verified count. Permanent. Be counted.
Register and receive a numbered commemorative certificate honoring your Albanian heritage — your name on the verified count of Albanian Americans. Born in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Çamëria, Arbëreshë, or anywhere along the family tree. Free. Permanent.
501(c)(3) filed. Eight founders — every name, role, and vote public. Mixed diaspora: Albania-born and US-born, immigrants and second generation. The bylaws lock out single-person control on purpose.
224K keeps us invisible to the institutions that decide.
No state has to print an Albanian ballot — Albanian isn't on the Voting Rights Act's list, and hasn't been since 1975. No Albanian box on the Census, just a write-in most people skip. Few Albanian-American programs funded the way larger, counted communities are. Each starts with the Albanian community being visible to the institutions that decide — and the broader community is close to a million, far more than the official tally reflects. NAR's community-led count runs alongside the Census; your name helps show the real number.
Most registrants don't speak fluent Albanian. Many never met their Albanian grandparents. The official ancestry question rarely reaches anyone who isn't 100% sure they 'qualify' — the community-led count is where your name shows up.
