Montenegrin Citizenship by Investment Program Extended

Montenegro, the jewel of the Adriatic Sea and first in line to become the next European Union (EU) member state, has extended its program of granting citizenship by investment until the end of 2022.

The benefits of such a program for investors are manifold – the opportunity to become a citizen of a beautiful European country that is experiencing one of the highest investment per capita in the Old Continent but also the chance to become a citizen of the EU once the country becomes EU member state.

On 22 November 2018, the Government of Montenegro adopted the Decision on the criteria, method and procedure for the selection of persons who can acquire Montenegrin citizenship by admission for the implementation of the investment program of special importance for the economic interest of Montenegro (Decision), becoming one of many countries which grants citizenship through investment projects to foreigners.

The implementation of the program began on 1 January 2019 and was limited to up to 2,000 applicants. And the Decision was extended until the end of 2022.

The program was drafted in full cooperation with the European Union (EU) and the Government of Montenegro promised to refrain from any measure that may jeopardize the Montenegrin accession process to the EU.

Furthermore, the Decision’s main aim is to further support equal development of all the regions of the country.

When first announcing the Montenegrin citizenship by investment program, the Montenegrin government set conditions that need to be fulfilled in order to qualify for citizenship. With the 2021 amendments to the Decision, Montenegro set additional conditions for acquiring citizenship by investment.

How to obtain Montenegrin citizenship by investment

Procedure:

• The Republic of Montenegro selects special mediation agents who will be checking the international suitability of the applicant and will issue annual licenses to the agents

• The applicant submits a request through an agent who has previously signed an agreement with the Republic of Montenegro

Criteria for applicants set in 2019:

• Applicants must pay EUR 450,000 to the account of the Republic of Montenegro for the projects in the coastal region and Podgorica
• or EUR 250,000 in the northern and central regions, except Podgorica
• as well as EUR 100,000 intended for the less developed areas
• the applicant must deposit EUR 15,000 for its own application, EUR 10,000 for up to 4 family members, and EUR 50,000 for each next family member.

Furthermore, the Government of Montenegro gave a description of what projects are considered of special importance and the investment thresholds:

• Coastal region and the city of Podgorica: at least 5-star facilities, with at least 60 accommodations units with minimum investments of EUR 15,000,000 and at least 80 new employees
• Northern and central regions (except Podgorica): at least a 4-star hotel or mixed tourist, with at least 35 accommodation units with a minimum investment of EUR 5,000,000 and at least 25 new employees

Additional criteria set in 2021:

In addition to the originally established conditions, investors will have to meet additional criteria.

• All applicants must make a deposit in the amount of 100,000 euros to the Innovation Fund of Montenegro.
• Investors in the field of tourism, whose projects are on the List of Development Projects, were obliged to submit to the Government by the end of January 2022 an irrevocable first demand bank guarantee in the amount of 50% of the planned value of the investments. If the investor didn’t submit a bank guarantee, the state administration authority responsible for tourism will remove such projects from the List of Development Projects.

If you need any further information on how to acquire Montenegrin citizenship by investment and the ways we can provide assistance, please contact us at office@geciclaw.com.

*This article was initially published in November 2018 and it was updated in March 2022

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