Montenegro

Montenegro has a residence permit written for remote workers. The temporary residence permit for digital nomads is set out in Article 60a of the Law on Foreigners, which the January 2026 amendments re-enacted with no end date. It covers people who work electronically for a foreign company, or for their own company that isn't registered in Montenegro.

How the nomad permit works

• Income: The rulebook sets the floor at three times Montenegro's minimum wage. The minimum wage has two tiers and the rulebook doesn't say which applies, so the comparison table shows the lower figure; measured against the higher tier, the test is €2,400 a month.
• Proof of work: Applicants file an employment contract or another document showing remote work for the foreign company, plus proof that the company is registered in another country.
• Renewal: One extension of up to 2 more years; file in person 60 to 30 days before expiry; extension only on the same legal basis. That caps the stay on this permit at 4 years, and a new one can only be issued six months after the old one expires.
• Decision time: The Ministry of Interior has 40 days from a complete application to decide.
• Family: Spouses, minor children and a spouse's or adopted children under 18 can join through family reunification.
• Local work: The permit covers work for foreign companies. Working for a Montenegrin employer needs a separate residence and work permit.
• Permanent residence: Permanent residence needs 5 years' continuous lawful temporary residence. No explicit exclusion for digital nomads, but this permit caps at 4 years, extends only on the same basis and needs a 6-month gap before a new one, so it cannot reach 5 continuous years on its own.

Applications are filed in Montenegro after a lawful entry. Nationals who need a visa can get a long-stay D visa for digital nomads on proof of their remote work and health insurance.

Visits without a permit

Citizens of the countries on Montenegro's visa-free list, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan and Brazil, can stay up to 90 days without a visa. EU citizens get 90 days on a passport or 30 days on an identity card. Visa-required nationals holding a valid Schengen, US or UK visa or residence permit can enter for up to 30 days.

Under Article 34 of the Law on Foreigners, the 90 days fall within a 180-day period counted from the first entry. Montenegro isn't one of the 29 Schengen countries, so time there doesn't count toward the Schengen allowance of 90 days in any 180-day period.

Other routes

Property owners can apply for temporary residence based on the property under Article 56. Since Jan. 17, 2026, owners who aren't EU, EEA or Swiss citizens need a property whose tax base, as set in the real estate transfer tax decision, is at least €150,000.

The citizenship-by-investment program has been closed to new applications since Jan. 1, 2023, with no replacement.

Which route fits

• Remote work for a foreign company: the digital nomad permit, for applicants who meet the income test and can show the company is registered abroad.
• Work for a Montenegrin employer: a temporary residence and work permit rather than the nomad permit.
• Owning property: temporary residence based on ownership, with the €150,000 tax-base test for owners from outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland.
• A short trip: a visa-free stay, or a short-stay C visa for nationals who need one.

Montenegro uses the euro, without a formal arrangement with the EU, so nomads paid in euros face no exchange-rate risk. In Numbeo's crowd-sourced prices, a single person's monthly spending excluding rent was about €615 nationally in September 2026. Budva, on the coast, costs more than the capital on both rent and everyday spending.

Each total adds the average one-bedroom rent, outside the center and in it, to Numbeo's estimate of a single person's other monthly costs. Podgorica's figures were last updated Sept. 5, 2026, from 875 entries by 63 contributors; Budva's rest on 170 entries from 24 contributors. Numbeo has too little data on Kotor for an estimate.

Anyone who meets the nomad permit's income test earns more than every total in the table, even at the lower wage tier.

Everyday prices in Podgorica

Numbeo's September 2026 averages for the capital give a feel for daily spending:

• Getting around: A monthly public transport pass cost about €30.
• Utilities: Electricity, heating, cooling, water and garbage for an 85-square-meter apartment ran about €105 a month.
• Eating out: A meal at an inexpensive restaurant cost about €10, and a cappuccino about €1.95.
• Fitness: A monthly gym membership averaged about €40.

What the totals leave out

• Health insurance: Every temporary residence permit, the nomad permit included, requires health insurance; travel health insurance from an authorized insurer qualifies.
• Coworking: A desk comes on top of the totals, and prices vary by space.
• Home internet: Broadband is a separate bill, about €30 a month in Numbeo's Podgorica prices.

Four places cover the main choices: the capital for year-round city life and three towns on the coast. Rents come from Numbeo's crowd-sourced averages for September 2026.

Podgorica

Podgorica, the capital, suits nomads who want year-round city services and lower rents than on the coast. A central one-bedroom averaged about €575 a month, and one outside the center about €443.

It's inland, so beach days mean a trip to the coast. Its Numbeo figures rest on 875 entries, more than any other place in this guide, which makes its budget the least of a guess.

Budva

Budva is the coastal choice with the most data behind it. Rents were the highest of the places compared here, about €744 for a central one-bedroom, and a single person's other costs ran about €721 a month against €614 in Podgorica. It suits nomads who want the beach on the doorstep and are willing to pay for it.

Kotor

Kotor sits inside the Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage site on the Bay of Kotor. UNESCO describes this natural harbor on the Adriatic as an important artistic and commercial center in the Middle Ages.

It suits nomads who want a smaller historic town on the water. Numbeo doesn't have enough recent data for a Kotor budget, so rents are best checked directly with landlords before committing to a long lease.

Bar

Bar, further south on the coast, has no city guide on this site yet. It's a cheaper coastal option in Numbeo's data, at about €554 for a central one-bedroom and €390 outside the center, though the figures rest on 120 entries from eight contributors.

Speedtest's Global Index put Montenegro's median fixed broadband download at about 91 Mbps in August 2026, 85th in the world. The figure moves around: over the previous 12 months it ranged from about 82 to 145 Mbps. The latest mobile figure, for May 2026, was a median download of about 115 Mbps, 45th, up from about 73 Mbps in August 2025.

Numbeo's September 2026 averages for Podgorica were about €30 a month for unlimited broadband of 60 Mbps or more and about €17 for a mobile plan with calls and at least 10GB of data.

The government's digital nomad portal, last updated in December 2022, says all three mobile operators, Telekom, One and m:tel, provide eSIMs and that prepaid SIM cards are sold at kiosks, shops and operator offices. A prepaid plan with a large data allowance makes a straightforward backup to a home line.

Coworking

Coworking spaces are concentrated in Podgorica and the larger coastal towns such as Budva. In smaller places, cafes, apartments with a fixed line and mobile data fill the gap. Day passes and monthly desks are the usual formats, and prices vary by space.

Montenegro taxes residents on income earned in Montenegro and abroad, and non-residents only on income from Montenegro. A person becomes resident by spending more than 183 days in Montenegro in a tax year, or by having a domicile or center of business and life interests there.

The digital nomad exemption

Article 32d of the Personal Income Tax Law gives permit holders a specific break, in force since Dec. 30, 2022:

• Personal income tax exemption for employment or self-employment income from an employer not registered in Montenegro, earned under digital nomad status.

The exemption covers pay or business income from an employer that isn't registered in Montenegro. Income from Montenegrin sources, such as a local client or a local employer, is taxed under the normal rules.

What to check

• The day count: The test uses the tax year, and the threshold is strictly more than 183 days, so staying exactly that long isn't enough on its own.
• Nomad status: The exemption applies to income earned under digital nomad status. Time on a visa-free stay or on another permit falls outside it.
• The home country: Montenegro's exemption doesn't stop another country from taxing the same income. Nomads who remain resident elsewhere should check that country's rules and whether it has a tax treaty with Montenegro.

Arrival and registration

• Registering the stay: Visitors must register their stay with the police within 24 hours of arriving in a place. Hotels and other accommodation providers do it for their guests within 12 hours, and tourists staying elsewhere can register for free through the local tourist organization.
• Passport for a permit: Residence permit applicants need a passport valid at least three months longer than the permit.
• The nomad permit: The government's digital nomad portal has an overview of the permit's legal basis and documents; it predates the January 2026 amendments, so the law itself is the reference for anything that changed.
• Trips into the Schengen area: Croatia, next door, is a Schengen member. Non-EU visitors entering it on a short stay are registered in the Entry/Exit System with a facial image and, if visa-exempt, four fingerprints; the system has run at every external border crossing since April 10, 2026.
• ETIAS: Not yet operating and no official start date. The EU says it will announce the date several months before launch. The earlier official target, the last quarter of 2026, was removed from the official ETIAS website on July 14-17, 2026. Once it runs, visa-exempt travelers will need it for short trips into the Schengen area; it will cost €20 for most adults and last 3 years or until the passport expires.

Money and phones

Prices, rents and salaries are all in euros, which keeps budgeting simple for anyone earning in euros. Prepaid SIMs and eSIMs are available from all three mobile operators, so staying connected doesn't depend on a local contract.

Health cover

Health insurance is a condition of every temporary residence permit, and the law accepts travel health insurance from an authorized insurer. D visa applicants also need proof of health insurance, so cover should be in place before applying.

Safety and emergencies

The general emergency number is 112. Pickpockets work tourist spots, beaches, airports and public transport, and police can fine people who aren't carrying ID, according to the UK government's travel advice.