Montenegro Residence by Property

Montenegro’s citizenship-by-investment program closed at the end of 2022 and has not reopened. What remains for foreign buyers is temporary residence on the basis of owning real estate. It gives you the right to reside in Montenegro for a renewable one-year period, not citizenship. Since January 2026 the property must meet a minimum tax-assessed value.

What changed in 2026. The law amending the Law on Foreigners was adopted by Parliament and promulgated on 31 December 2025, published in the Official Gazette No. 3/2026 on 9 January 2026 and in force from 17 January 2026. For temporary residence based on real estate, the applicant must now submit proof of the property’s value: the local tax authority’s decision on real estate transfer tax, whose taxable base is not less than €150,000. The value that counts is the tax decision, not the price in your purchase contract. Older articles quoting €200,000 refer to an earlier draft.

How the route works

• You own real estate in Montenegro and apply for a temporary residence permit to use and dispose of that property.
• The permit is granted for one year and renewed for one year at a time. An extension is requested in person no later than 30 days before expiry.
• You apply in person at the Ministry of the Interior office for your place of residence. If you file a complete application before your 90-day stay expires, you may stay until the decision.
• The Ministry decides after opinions from the National Security Agency and the police; the official guide gives 40 days from a complete application, and an appeal can be filed within eight days of the decision.

What the Ministry requires

• A property certificate or other evidence under the cadastre law, and, since the 2026 amendment, the tax decision showing a taxable base of at least €150,000.
• Means of subsistence, accommodation and health insurance; a valid travel document; no entry or residence ban; no criminal sentence above six months (in Montenegro or your country of origin) unless its legal effects have ceased; and no security, public-order or public-health restrictions.
• The requirement to prove the property value does not apply to citizens of EU member states and their family members, nor to citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Existing permit holders

The law’s transitional provisions say that if a foreigner was issued a temporary residence permit for real estate before the law entered into force, an extension requested afterwards is decided under the previous law, and permits already issued stay valid until they expire. Procedures started before 17 January 2026 are completed under the old rules.

What this permit does and does not give you

• Work is a separate ground. This permit is granted to use and dispose of your property; working in Montenegro requires its own basis.
• It ends if you stay outside Montenegro for more than 30 days during its validity, according to the Ministry.
• Permanent residence generally requires five consecutive years of lawful residence. The Ministry’s permanent-residence page appears to list temporary residence for disposing of real estate among the periods that do not count toward those five years; its wording is unclear, so we confirm this with the Ministry before anyone plans around it.
• Citizenship is not on offer: the investor program is closed and Montenegro is not an EU member.

Check before you buy

• The tax value. If the tax authority values a €155,000 apartment at €148,000, the application can fail. We check the likely valuation before you sign.
• Completion and registration. The purchase has to be completed and registered in your name, not just signed as a preliminary agreement.
• The law keeps moving. A further short amendment was published in the Official Gazette No. 33/2026 (10 March 2026), and the Parliament adopted another amendment and a new Law on Foreigners in October 2026, which is reported to apply from Montenegro’s EU accession. We did not find changes to the property route in what we reviewed, and we are checking the texts.

How GoldPassports helps

We check the property and its likely tax valuation, verify title and registration with local lawyers, and prepare the temporary residence application and each annual renewal.

Which countries is the Montenegro Residence by Property most popular in?

Where most applicants and prospective investors come from, based on how much interest each country shows.

Frequently asked questions

Related updates

• Which golden visas and citizenship-by-investment programs are still open in 2026? 17 Oct 2026

Official sources

Figures on this page come from the sources below and were last verified on 16 October 2026. Rules change; always confirm the current position before investing.

1. Law amending the Law on Foreigners: promulgation decree and adopted text, 31 December 2025 (Parliament of Montenegro)
2. Official Gazette of Montenegro 3/2026: Law on amendments to the Law on Foreigners (published 9 Jan 2026, in force 17 Jan 2026)
3. Official Gazette of Montenegro 33/2026: Law amending the Law on Foreigners (published 10 Mar 2026)
4. Parliament of Montenegro: bill file for the amendments (status: adopted)
5. Government of Montenegro: Temporary residence (conditions, documents, procedure)
6. Government of Montenegro: Permanent residence
7. Government of Montenegro: draft amendments announced in November 2025 (earlier €200,000 proposal)