If you looking to settle in Montenegro getting your temporary residency does not need to be complicated. Documents, methods, application process and contacts to help you through the process.
Temporary residency is valid for 1 year and then needs to be renewed.
- There are 2 main temporary residence applications that most people apply for.
By opening a Company – starting & registering a business. Your newly found business then invites you to Montenegro on a D Visa. Once here you apply for your temporary Residence.
By purchasing a property, cost of the property does not come in to play with this type of residency, but the property needs to be habitable and legally registered. Purchase property and apply for temporary Residence.
How is this property purchase different to a Golden Visa?
- Golden Visa (GV) gives you Citizenship whilst this gives you temporary residence,
- GV is more expensive but you do not need to reside in Montenegro for 11 months of the year to gain permanent residency after 5 years,
- GV has an amount in EUR that needs to be paid for the property and a government donation,
- where Property purchase Residency has no amount but it must be a habitable and a legal property.
- Get your documents you need from your home country this can take a while so best to do this before applying for any visas or residency applications. Come prepared to save yourself a lot of headaches, back and forth, and most importantly – time and money.
- Documents needed to apply for residency Both the residency processes, as mentioned above, have similar and different documents that you would need when applying for each process.
1. Temporary Residence for Montenegro by opening a company:
This is the more difficult option of the 2, the process is more complicated and it involves paying monthly taxes and an accountant monthly. (Totaling on average for this about 200eur per month, this excludes the monthly minimum wage salary the business needs to pay you as director).
The advantage of this option: you do not have to reside in Montenegro for 11 months of the year as with property residency, and its cheaper than the golden visa approach.
After 5 years, having renewed temporary residency every year, you can apply for Permanent residency. You are then no longer required to renew yearly and you have the same advantages as a citizen except you are not allowed to vote.
The Process to do this:
- You would get the documents you need in your home country to apply for the visa, open a company and apply for residency.
- You would then come to Montenegro on a C visa to open a company. This takes 2-4 weeks depending on how busy the registration offices are. (You could also choose to give Power of Attorney to someone in Montenegro to open the company/business on your behalf, preferably an attorney or someone you know. You can then open it from your home country and would skip the visa C stage of the process.)
- You would then need to exit the country to apply for your D-visa. You do however need specific documents for this visa and residency.
- Your newly found company then invites you to return to Montenegro in a formal official letter from your company – this is part of the D-visa application documents.
- Once you have arrived in Montenegro you then apply for your temporary residency.
Getting the needed Assistance
This process is simple but can get complicated. I do advise to get someone that can speak Montenegrin, who does this for a living or is an attorney to assist you with opening your business and applying for the residency. It can get daunting. Lots to do once in Montenegro from MUP, to notar, to translators, to opening documents and registering businesses….
I can recommend an attorney: Nino Pantovic in Tivat: Cell: +382 67 211 746
2. Temporary Residence in Montenegro by purchasing a Property
With this residency you need to be in the country 10 months per annum. If you stay longer you would need to say why you are out of Montenegro. To get Permanent residency after 5 years you need to have been a resident in Montenegro for this time, and only have been out of the country for an accumulative 10 months in the 5 year span.
The process:
- You would get the documents you need in your home country to apply for this visa and your residency.
- You then come to Montenegro on a C visa. Or you give Power of Attorney to someone to purchase property on your behalf if you have already located a property.
- Once in Montenegro, you can begin your property search. Best to use an Estate Agent that can verify the property. Make sure the property is legal in the Cadaster else it will not qualify you for residence. It has to be registered legally, it must be habitable – the price of the property is not a criteria/concern. (The price is only an issue when you purchase property for Golden visa Citizenship – then you do not need to live in Montenegro permanently.)
- Once you have found your perfect home, make sure everything on the property is legit and all the municipal fees on the property have been paid. Best to use a trustworthy Estate agent for this.
- You would need to open a bank account in your personal name to do the property purchase transfer or you could pay directly to the Notary office.
- I can recommend working with an attorney to make sure everything is legal and above board. I can recommend an attorney in Tivat that speaks English, to assist in drawing up the Purchase contract and meets with you at the cadaster to make sure the purchase process runs smoothly.
- Nino Pantovic: Cell: +382 67 211 746
- Once your property is paid for you can apply for temporary residency.
- You do need specific documents for this visa and residency process.
- A property can be registered in 2 peoples names and give both temporary residency in Montenegro.
Documents needed to apply for Residency: Business & Property route
See the different columns below to see which documents are needed for each process – For Business residency, Property Residency and Dependents.
Getting your Residency Documents in your Home country:
Here you can find how and where to get documents from in your home country. The process is basically the same for all countries.
Note: temporary residence may be granted to a foreigner under these circumstances:
- employment and work, performing economic or business activity;
- seasonal work;
- secondary education and studies
- participation in student exchange programmes or other youth programmes;
- specialisation or professional training and acquisition of practical skills;
- scientific-research work;
- medical treatment;
- family reunification.
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Very energetic post, I loved that a lot. Will there be a part 2?