Visa and entry rules for Montenegro

Do you need a visa?

Find your passport in the table. The entry rules for every country are on the official list of Montenegrin embassies and consulates, in each country's visa section.

The change of 1 November 2026 ended the 30 visa-free days that Russian, Turkish, Belarusian and Saudi citizens had until then, and the 30-day exception for organised Chinese tourist groups; it brought Montenegro's visa list into line with the EU's, a condition of its accession talks. Kazakh citizens need a visa; a seasonal visa-free window applied from 1 May to 1 October 2026.

How long you can stay

Visa-free entry with a passport gives 90 days within any 180, counted from the first entry (Law on Foreigners, Art. 34). Entry with an ID card gives 30 days. A short-stay (C) visa gives the same 90 days within 180, and a multiple-entry C visa is issued for six months to five years. There is no separate transit visa: the C visa covers transit as well (Art. 17).

Entering with an ID card

Citizens of the 23 states in the table may enter on a national ID card, under an international agreement or the visa-regime rules of the Law on Foreigners. The card must stay valid for at least three months after your planned departure (Art. 9). France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Poland are not on the list, so their citizens travel on a passport.

Passport validity and applying for a visa

A passport is accepted at the border if it was issued within the last ten years and stays valid for at least three months after your planned departure (Law on Foreigners, Art. 9). For a visa application the passport must outlast the visa by at least three months; in urgent, justified cases a shorter validity is accepted, but never one that ends before departure. Apply in person at a Montenegrin embassy or consulate at least 15 days before travel for a C visa and 60 days before for a D visa (Art. 21).

The border police may refuse entry to a foreigner who cannot show the purpose and conditions of the stay, who lacks the money for the stay and for the journey home or onward, or who has already spent 90 days in Montenegro within the last 180 (Law on Foreigners, Art. 8).

Children travelling with one parent

Every child needs a valid travel document of its own, or an ID card where the nationality allows one; the Law on Foreigners (Art. 9) makes no exception for children. A minor travelling with an adult who is not a parent needs the parents' written, certified consent. A child travelling with one parent should carry the other parent's certified consent and the child's birth certificate. The Montenegro with kids page has more on documents for children.

Travelling with a dog or cat

Up to five dogs or cats may enter with their owner (rulebook on non-commercial movement of pets, Sl. list CG 42/2016). Each needs a microchip or other prescribed ID, a pet passport, a rabies vaccination (given at least 21 days before travel if it is the first) and a certificate from an official vet in the country of departure. Dogs also need tapeworm (E. multilocularis) treatment 24 to 120 hours before entering or leaving Montenegro. For a pet from a country outside the EU list, confirm before you travel whether a rabies antibody titre test is needed. Pets enter through one of the ten designated border inspection posts; Tivat Airport is not one of them. The travelling with a dog or cat page has the details.

Customs: what you can bring in duty-free

Personal luggage is duty-free up to EUR 430 for air and sea travellers, EUR 300 for travellers by land and EUR 150 for travellers under 15. A single item worth more than the allowance cannot be split so that part of its value falls within it. Private aircraft and leisure boats do not count as air or sea travel.

Cash and other means of payment worth EUR 10,000 or more must be declared to customs on entry and on exit, on the prescribed form; cheques and bearer instruments count. Undeclared cash of that size costs an individual EUR 550 to 2,000; when there is no suspicion of crime, the cash itself is not seized.

After arrival: register within 24 hours

A foreigner staying up to 90 days must be registered with the police within 24 hours of arriving at the place of stay. Paid accommodation registers you itself, within 12 hours. If you stay with friends or in your own flat, register yourself at the local tourist organisation or the police. The registration and tourist tax page explains who does what and what the tax costs.

Staying longer

A longer stay generally needs a temporary residence permit under the Law on Foreigners. A long-stay (D) visa covers stays of more than 90 and up to 180 days in a year for set purposes, among them work, family reunification, study, medical treatment, owning property in Montenegro and remote work as a digital nomad (Art. 18). Residence applications go to the Ministry of the Interior.

Embassies and consulates

The embassies and consulates directory lists foreign missions in Montenegro with address, phone and hours; start there after a lost passport.