When Paper Costs More Than Rights: The Human Price of Statelessness in North Macedonia

By Albert Memeti,
Program Manager for Economic Development
Institute for Research and Policy Analysis, Romalitico

Imagine being told that your very existence in the eyes of the state depends not only on having the right documents—but also on whether you can afford to pay for them. For many people in North Macedonia—especially Roma—living without citizenship or secure documentation is not a rare exception, but a daily, grinding reality.

A recent administrative decision by the Ministry of Interior to raise the cost of temporary residence permits from €5 to €65, and permanent permits up to €100, has transformed what was once routine bureaucracy into a financial barrier. What may seem to the average citizen like a small fee adjustment is, in reality, a devastating blow to undocumented and stateless Roma—especially those holding humanitarian temporary residence permits.

For them, this decision pushes legal existence further out of reach, monetizing identity itself and placing essential rights such as healthcare, education, employment, and social inclusion behind a paywall they cannot afford to cross.

Statelessness has long haunted Roma families in North Macedonia. Its causes are complex—historical, legal, and structural.

The dissolution of Yugoslavia left many Roma without civil registration, especially those in informal settlements or on the economic margins. During the 1990s, thousands of Roma births went unregistered because parents lacked documents themselves, creating a cycle of exclusion that persists to this day.

This cycle is reinforced by poverty, limited access to legal aid, and discriminatory practices within public institutions that delay or deny document issuance. Without a registered legal address, many Roma could not obtain personal IDs—a prerequisite for access to healthcare, education, or employment.

The result is a system where statelessness reproduces itself across generations: parents without papers cannot register their children, and children without birth certificates grow into adults without identity.

Despite some encouraging developments—such as the issuance of birth certificates to nearly 500 previously undocumented Roma individuals—progress remains fragile and easily reversible.  Romalitico, and its partners have supported over 300 Roma in securing documentation via legal aid and accompaniment.

Yet around 200 people remain in legal limbo, holding only temporary permits without Personal Identification Numbers (PINs), which must be renewed annually even after living in the country for over 15 years.

Under current law, naturalization becomes possible only after three consecutive years of temporary residence—a process that demands repeated renewals and, with the new fees, imposes an unsustainable financial burden.

For families already struggling with poverty and social exclusion, this annual toll threatens to push them back into total legal invisibility.

This is not merely a story of paperwork or administrative inefficiency—it is a story of systemic exclusion rooted in history. Statelessness among Roma is not accidental. It is the product of intergenerational deprivation: In Shuto Orizari, a father is denied social assistance because he lacks an ID, in Kumanovo, a mother cannot register her newborn because her own birth was never recorded, in Tetovo, a teenager is barred from secondary school for lack of documentation.

These are not isolated cases—they represent a structural failure in ensuring equality before the law. For Roma, statelessness is not an abstract legal condition; it is a daily fight for survival.

The Ministry's decision to increase fees disproportionately harms Roma communities—already among the most economically disadvantaged groups in the country. More than 70% of Roma live below the poverty line, surviving on irregular income, informal work, and insecure housing.

For them, a €65 fee per person per year is not a bureaucratic inconvenience but an impossible choice: between food and documentation, between school supplies and legal status. Temporary residence permits—intended as protection mechanisms—are turning into instruments of exclusion.

Without urgent policy change—such as fee waivers, targeted subsidies, or state-funded legal assistance—this regulation will drive more Roma families into deeper invisibility, eroding North Macedonia's commitments to equality and inclusion.

The Ministry of Interior has defended the increase as a move to “align with European standards” and recover administrative costs. Yet such justification ignores the principle of proportionality. A €65 fee might be negligible in Western Europe, but in North Macedonia—where many Roma households survive on less than €200 per month—it is crippling.

Temporary residence permits are not luxury services; they are lifelines. Suggesting that higher fees will prevent system abuse is both misleading and dangerous. Roma statelessness stems from structural exclusion, not opportunism. Increasing fees will not prevent abuse—it will only punish the already marginalized.

North Macedonia now stands at a crossroads. This seemingly technical policy change risks quietly undermining the country's human rights record and dismantling the fragile progress achieved in Roma inclusion. The cost of statelessness cannot be measured in euros but in lost opportunities, denied rights, and human dignity withheld.

The decision also directly contradicts North Macedonia's international and national obligations. The European Network on Statelessness and the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association have long highlighted the absence of a formal statelessness determination procedure. Both the United Nations and the European Union call for the removal of administrative barriers to Roma inclusion.

The current fee hike does the opposite—it undermines the Roma Inclusion Strategy 2022–2030 and jeopardizes progress under EU Accession Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights), where minority protection is a key benchmark.

A state is ultimately judged by how it treats those at its margins. If North Macedonia truly seeks EU membership and wants to uphold its commitments to the Roma community, it must put people before paper. Because when existence has a price tag, justice is already too expensive.

To prevent the erosion of progress and uphold its international commitments, the Government of North Macedonia should take three immediate steps:

1. Reverse the hiking fee for residence permits. Stateless and undocumented individuals—many of them Roma—should not have to pay the price of belonging.
2. Introduce a formal statelessness determination procedure in line with UN and EU recommendations, providing a fair, transparent pathway to legal identity.
3. Expand state-supported legal aid and outreach, building on the proven experience of civil society organizations such as Romalitico and the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, which already serve as bridges between vulnerable communities and the state.

Also Read: Unequal Progress: Roma Inclusion in 2025 SDG Reviews Remains Incomplete Across Europe