Montenegro's Digital Nomad Residence Permit allows foreign nationals who work remotely for foreign employers or their own companies registered outside Montenegro to reside in the country for up to four years. Established through amendments to the Law on Foreigners in August 2022, the program is administered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A standout benefit is that holders are exempt from personal income tax on their foreign-sourced income. In 2024, Montenegro issued 653 digital nomad residence permits.
All foreign documents must be translated into Montenegrin by a certified translator and may require apostille or legalisation.
The initial permit is granted for up to 2 years and can be extended for an additional 2 years, for a maximum total of 4 years. Extension requests must be submitted in person at least 30 days before the current permit expires. After the maximum 4-year period, a new permit may only be issued after a mandatory 6-month gap.
The permit may be terminated if the holder resides outside Montenegro for more than 30 consecutive days without justification (absences of up to 90 days are allowed with prior notification to the Ministry), or if permit conditions are no longer met.
Close family members, including spouses, minor children (biological or adopted), and stepchildren up to age 18, may apply for family reunification once the primary holder's residence permit has been granted. Since the January 2026 amendments, same-sex partners are explicitly recognised as eligible family members. No separate additional income requirement is specified for dependants.
Digital nomad permit holders are exempt from personal income tax on income earned from employers not registered in Montenegro. This exemption was established through amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax, effective 30 December 2022. Holders earning solely from foreign employers have no Montenegrin income tax filing obligation.
Applicants from visa-free countries (including EU, US, Canada, Australia, and Japan) can enter Montenegro as tourists and apply in-country at the local Ministry of Internal Affairs office in their municipality of residence — there is no requirement to apply from abroad. The application is submitted in person, and biometric data (photograph, fingerprints, and digitised signature) is collected during the process.
Nationals requiring a visa to enter Montenegro may first obtain a long-stay visa (visa D) for digital nomads, valid for up to 180 days within a one-year period, at a Montenegrin embassy or consulate abroad.
Processing takes up to 40 days from submission of a complete residence permit application (up to 10 days for a D visa, extendable if further review is needed). The residence permit application fee is approximately €67; the D visa consular fee is around €65 for adults and €32 for children.
Amendments to the Law on Foreigners in force from January 2026 introduced electronic application via a new Visa Information System (a physical appearance for biometrics is still required) and expanded the grounds for the long-stay visa D, while leaving the core digital nomad permit (up to 2+2 years, foreign-source income only) substantively unchanged.