Montenegro residence permit through property

The amendments to the Law on Foreigners were published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 3/2026 and apply from 17 January 2026. For temporary residence based on property ownership, the property must be worth at least €150,000. What counts is the tax base in the final decision on real estate transfer tax — not the asking price, not the price in the contract and not an agency's valuation.

That is why the value the law looks at is not the same as the asking price in a listing. Where a property is priced close to the threshold, the outcome depends on the tax base the authority sets, so it is worth checking before you buy.

The €150,000 condition does not apply to nationals of European Union member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, or to their family members, whatever the family members' own nationality.

Temporary residence permits granted on the basis of property ownership before 17 January 2026 can be extended without having to demonstrate the value of the property.

Under the Law on Foreigners, property in this sense means family houses, holiday houses, villas, apartments, hospitality premises, residential-commercial buildings and business premises. Ownership is proved with the title deed (list nepokretnosti) or other proof under the law on the real estate cadastre.

Owning property and living in Montenegro are two separate matters. Foreign nationals buy an apartment, a house or commercial premises in their own name on the same terms as Montenegrin citizens, whether or not they ever apply for residence. Residence based on property is a separate application with its own conditions.