Registering your stay and the tourist tax

Every foreign visitor to Montenegro is registered with the police within 24 hours of arrival. A hotel, hostel, campsite or registered holiday flat does it for you within 12 hours of check-in; if you stay with friends or family, or in a flat you own, you register yourself at the local tourist office or the police, with your passport. The tourist tax (boravišna taksa) is EUR 1.00 per person per night in Budva, Tivat, Bar, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Ulcinj, Cetinje, Žabljak and Kolašin. Children under 12 pay nothing, 12 to 18-year-olds pay half, and the host adds it to the bill.

Who must be registered and by when

The Law on Foreigners sets two deadlines. A foreigner on a stay of up to 90 days registers the place of stay with the police within 24 hours of arriving there and deregisters within 24 hours before leaving, unless the stay ends on the date already registered (Art. 96). Paid accommodation registers its guests itself, within 12 hours of arrival (Art. 97). The deadlines were not touched by the 2022, 2024 and 2026 amendments to the law. Local tourist offices sometimes quote the 12-hour deadline for everyone; that is the host's deadline, yours is 24 hours. A stay in several municipalities is registered in each of them.

How registration works

• Hotels, hostels, agencies and registered apartments register you at check-in from your passport. Nothing else is needed from you.
• Private hosts register their guests themselves. In Tivat they use the Lotos Turist app; in Budva a guest can also register and pay the tax at the information points of the Budva tourist organisation.
• Staying with family or friends, or in your own flat: go to the local tourist organisation office or the police within 24 hours. The tourist information directory lists the office in each town with address, phone, hours and season.

Guests do not register online themselves. Ask your host for the registration confirmation, or keep the receipt from the tourist office: it is your proof if the police ask, and some hosts need it to issue the certificate for the tax.

Tourist tax: who pays and how much

Each municipality sets the tax by its own decision, within the range the Law on tourist tax allows, EUR 0.10 to 1.00 per person per night (Art. 7). The host collects it together with the accommodation charge and shows it as a separate line on the bill; a host who does not collect it owes it (Art. 4 and 5). The host also reports every arrival to the local tourist organisation within 24 hours (Art. 7b). For rooms in private and rural households and for campsites, a municipality may instead charge the host a flat yearly amount per property (Art. 7). Boats in nautical tourism pay a flat EUR 5 to 150 depending on length and length of stay.

The Budva tourist organisation's own page gives the rate as "up to EUR 1.00"; the municipal decision is the legal act, and it sets a flat EUR 1.00. None of the Budva, Tivat or Bar decisions sets a flat rate for private rooms or campsites, so the per-night amount applies there. Bar's separate "turistička taksa" is a yearly charge on owners of second homes, not a guest tax.

Exemptions and reductions

The law (Art. 3) exempts children under 12; people with severe sensory or physical disabilities; people sent for spa or rehabilitation treatment; registered seasonal workers; anyone staying more than 30 days without a break in the same accommodation; school trips and organised student stays, sports and cultural events; foreigners exempt under a treaty; and humanitarian workers. Each exemption needs proof. The half rate applies to ages 12 to 18 and to members of international youth organisations up to 29 staying in hostels of the international youth hostel network. In Tivat, property owners with a title deed and their close family pay no tax but are still registered; Žabljak also exempts organised groups of pensioners.

Staying in a private flat or with friends

Take your passport to the tourist organisation office of the town, within 24 hours of arrival. Where you pay the tax depends on the office: in Budva it is paid at the information point; elsewhere ask when you register. If you change town during your stay, register again in the new one. The visa and entry page covers how long you may stay in the first place; registration does not extend it.

Fines

A foreigner who does not register pays EUR 60 to 600 (Law on Foreigners, Art. 214). A private host who does not register a guest within 12 hours pays EUR 150 to 500; for a company the fine is EUR 500 to 3,000 (Art. 212). Under the tourist tax law, a private host who does not collect the tax or report arrivals pays EUR 250 to 1,500 (Art. 11), and remains liable for the tax itself.

Cruise passengers, day visitors, boats and campsites

The tax is charged per night in accommodation, so a day visitor from Dubrovnik or a cruise passenger who sleeps on board pays nothing. Boats pay the flat nautical rate of EUR 5 to 150 by length and stay (Art. 7). Campsites count as accommodation, but a municipality may charge them, and rooms in private and rural households, a flat amount per property instead, calculated from the location's category, the number of beds or pitches and an assumed 45 days of full occupancy a year (Art. 2 and 7). Whether a campsite adds the tax to each night therefore depends on the municipality; in Bar, Budva and Tivat it is charged per night. Entry rules at the borders themselves are on the border crossings page.

Sources

Law on Foreigners (Sl. list CG 12/18, 3/19, 86/22, 77/24, 3/26 and 33/26; the 2026 amendments leave the registration rules and fines unchanged); Law on tourist tax (Sl. list RCG 11/04, 13/04, Sl. list CG 73/10, 48/15); the municipal tourist tax decisions in Sl. list CG (opštinski propisi) listed in the table; the pages of the Budva and Tivat tourist organisations. Municipal amounts are set by decision and can change at any council session.