Montenegro Residency (Your Options in 2023)
Knowing all your Montenegro Immigration options and requirements upfront will help ensure that you decide if moving to Montenegro is a good option for you. It is 2023 and more and more foreign citizens from all over the world consider moving to Montenegro. Plenty of them have already done so, everyone with their own set of reasons and motivations. Some to escape conflict and war in their home country, and some to get away from overbearing governments limiting their freedoms.
In this article, I’ll discuss and list the options you have to immigrate to Montenegro. It will include the official document requirements, the precise time frame of events, the pricing, and all the procedures (step-by-step).
Whether you want to move alone to start a business or come with your family to find a new home in southeastern Europe, the following is a guide with all the detailed information you need to know.
Montenegro Residency Permits
EU citizens and citizens of many other countries may enter, pass through and stay in Montenegro visa-free for up to 90 days with just a passport. EU country citizens can even enter with only a government ID for up to 30 days. To see if you are one of them please refer to this Visa Policy Map.
If you plan to stay in Montenegro for more than 90 days, you will have to apply for a temporary residence permit. There are a couple of ways to obtain this temporary residence permit – most people open a company in Montenegro to obtain temporary residency. The Montenegro residence permit is valid for one calendar year and needs to be renewed annually. If you successfully renew your temporary residence permit 5 times, you will meet the requirements for a permanent residence permit.
If permanent residency is granted, it will be valid for another 5 years. You then will have all the rights of a Montenegrin citizen except having no Montenegro passport and no right to vote. After having the temporary residency for five and the permanent one for another five years, you now have the right to directly apply for Montenegro citizenship.
Read below for possible ways to get a residence permit in Montenegro.
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Residency by Company Formation
The Timeline
1. Company registration (7-10 days)
2. Obtaining a residence permit (14-21 days)
3. Opening your business/individual bank accounts (1-2 days)
The Procedure
The first step in obtaining a temporary residency in Montenegro is to establish a local company – which requires a certified (and apostilled) Power of Attorney if you send it from abroad. The PoA is drafted by our company upon receiving your passport copy and the desired name for the company. If you choose to incorporate while being in Montenegro, we will also draft a PoA that needs to be certified in front of a local notary.
Once the company is established, you as the company director would need to apply for a Montenegrin temporary residence permit. Assuming you do not need a tourist visa to enter Montenegro, you can immediately start to apply for your residency permit. Please check the list of documents needed below.
Document Requirements
- Valid passport (15 months or longer)
- Original Criminal Record Certificate from the country of your citizenship, not older than 6 months, apostilled
- Proof of Accommodation (a certified rental contract over one year)
- School diploma with a transcript of grades and subjects (at least 8 years of schooling; no need to be apostilled)
- Marriage Certificate for your spouse, not older than 6 months (apostilled)
- Birth Certificate for your underage children, not older than 6 months (apostilled) – biological father needs to be present or you need to have written approval from him
Montenegro Temporary Residence Permit Benefits
Obtaining a Montenegrin residency might be off your radar at the moment. But let me highlight what benefits you are leaving out:
- after five years you can apply for permanent residency
- possibility of resident permits for your family members
- as a resident, you enjoy the free medical treatment in Montenegro
- Free Education up to the University level
- Tax residents enjoy one of the lowest personal income taxes worldwide (9 – 15%)
- a low-cost residency in light of the potential EU membership
Additional Requirements if you need a visa for Montenegro
If you require a visa to enter Montenegro, the immigration process becomes more complex because you would need to apply for a business visa type D first. The application is done at a Montenegrin embassy, usually the one closest to your place of residency. Among others, you will need to attach an invitation letter from a Montenegro based business or individual.
Residency by Buying Property
Besides the above-mentioned residency program, foreign citizens are also able to obtain residency by purchasing real estate in Montenegro. There are not many requirements that the Montenegrin government has put in place here. All you need to show is a 50% property ownership in a residential or commercial property (holiday homes do, but land ownership does not qualify) through a recently-updated property title. Further, as with the other temporary residence permits, the authorities will ask for proof of sufficient funds in a Montenegrin bank account (currently 3650,00 Euros), and a clean criminal record certificate from your home country.
Compared to the residence permits by company formation, there is one major downside. Namely that officials will not allow you to extend your temporary residency after one year if you have been out of the country for more than 90 days – within one calendar year. In that case, you will have to reapply from scratch and provide all the required documents again. It makes it the worse option if you want to work towards permanent residency in Montenegro which you can get after five years of having one of the temporary residence permits.
If you are from a country that does not allow for visa-free travel to Montenegro, then you would first need to apply for a Type-D Business Visa before applying for a permit in Montenegro. Usually, you will apply at the nearest Montenegrin embassy to your place of residence. Montenegro is a small country and does not have its consular outpost in every country. Sometimes you will need to apply at a Serbian embassy that will process your visa instead.
Document Requirements
- Valid passport (expires in less than 15 months)
- Property Title (not older than 7 days)
- Proof of sufficient funds (at least 3,650 Euros deposited with a Montenegrin bank
- Medical Insurance Policy for the permit in Montenegro from local insurer
- apostilled Criminal Record Certificate from the applicant’s home country, not older than 6 months
- Marriage Certificate for your spouse, not older than 6 months (apostilled)
- Birth Certificate for your underage children, not older than 6 months (apostilled) – biological father needs to be present or you need to have written approval from him
Info: This residence permit does not allow you to work in Montenegro besides residing there.
Residency for Yacht-Related Occupations
If property ownership or company formation is not something you are considering, here is an alternative if you are lucky to be a boat/yacht owner. A more exotic option is to obtain residency through boat/yacht ownership, or, better said via having a mooring contract over more than 90 days with one of Montenegro’s marinas. Both the boat/yacht owner and his crew members are allowed to apply for a residence permit. Montenegro which has a long history in seafaring gives special treatment to owners of yachts. So, if you are in the possession of a yacht, or manage a crew with long-term agreements of 90 days or more with one of Montenegro’s marinas, you can also apply for a temporary residence permit.
Residency by Scientific or Humanitarian work
Less than 0.1% of all residence permits are granted based on scientific research or humanitarian work. But it is nonetheless possible to receive a one-year extendable permit in Montenegro if you are a foreign citizen and Montenegro based and can prove that you engage in humanitarian or scientific work in the country such as volunteering in the EVS (European Voluntary Service Program). This program, same as the others, lets you work towards a permanent residence permit and Montenegrin citizenship.
Residency by Investment
If you are from a non-European Union country, obtaining citizenship in Montenegro is feasible if you invest in a government-approved real estate project. There are two variants. Let’s start with the cheaper one.
Minimum investment of 472,000 Euros
Investing 472,000 Euros will get you a share / distinct unit in a new hotel development in one of Montenegro’s ski resorts. Over the minimum holding period of 5 years, you are not allowed to sell your unit to another buyer.
Overview of costs
- 250,000 EUR (450,000 EUR) net investment amount
- 200,000 EUR state donation
- 15,000 EUR processing fees for the main candidate
- 7,000 EUR due diligence fees for the main candidate
- 10,000 EUR processing fees for each dependent (up to four)
- 50,000 EUR processing fees for additional dependents (after the fourth)
- 10,000 EUR due diligence fees for each dependent (up to four)
- 1,500 EUR due diligence fees for additional dependents (after the fourth)
Montenegrin passport for 672,000 Euros
Besides the projects in the northern region, there are investment alternatives in the coastal region of Montenegro. With 672,000 Euros, you can get a hotel unit in the Boka Place project in Porto Montenegro or in one of the other authorized 5-star hotels.
The Citizenship by Investment program grants Montenegrin citizenship to the main applicant and their family members within 6 months of applying. A key benefit of this citizenship by investment program is that it allows for dual citizenship. Meaning that you and your family are allowed to keep your other citizenships.
Requirements
- Be a non-EU citizen
- Have a clean criminal record
- Have a proof or origin of funds
All the privileges of the program
- visa-free travel to 124 countries
- with EU accession travel to Schengen countries
- no Montenegrin language requirement
- citizenship also granted to family members
- dual citizenship possible
Tax Residency
Montenegro has quite an efficient tax system with a corporate and personal income tax rate that ranges from 9% – 15%. Here are the conditions you need to fulfill if you want to establish tax residency in Montenegro:
- Obtain a Montenegro Residence Permit
- Spend more than 183 days per year in Montenegro
You will automatically be liable for income taxes if you are inside Montenegro’s borders for 183 days per calendar year. Montenegro has double taxation treaties in place with close to 50 countries.
We will happily assist you with obtaining a temporary or permanent residence permit in Montenegro. We will register a firm in Montenegro in your name, get a work permit, assist you in buying real estate and prepare all documents to apply for a temporary residence.
Projected Costs
The residency by company formation program bears an initial startup cost and ongoing costs for maintaining your company and residency status. You can find a detailed overview of all costs on our pricing page.
Obtaining residency in another country is a complex matter and needs careful planning. We at Adriacom have dedicated immigration experts who will make the process as smooth as possible. We will register a business in your name, help with the opening of a bank account, apply for residence permits, and eventually move to Montenegro!
Montenegro is the most investor-friendly country in Europe with very low income taxes, a pro-business climate, and lots of potential for further development. Montenegrin embassies do not have huge queues like consulates from other European states making dealing with visa and immigration matters easier.
The perfect Southern-Central location within Europe and the affordable while comfortable living in a nice Mediterranean climate, make Montenegro one of the most recommended options to get a residency.
FAQs - Montenegro Residency
What is the path from residency to citizenship?
After you incorporate your business with us, you fulfill the country’s requirements for obtaining a temporary residence permit.
When you have been a temporary resident of Montenegro for at least five years, you can now receive a permanent residence permit.
10 years from starting your company, becoming a Montenegrin citizen becomes a legal possibility for you. We assist you as our clients in receiving the citizenship and Montenegrin passport.
Is the residence permit in the form of an ID card?
Yes. It looks like the Personal ID used by the citizens of Montenegro. It is valid for one year and needs to be renewed annually – 30 days before it expires.
