Montenegro · Business & founder
Temporary Residence via Company Formation and Self-Employment
Open
Last verified July 2026
Open, and unaffected by the January 2026 property amendments. Share capital as low as EUR 1, plus operating costs.
For most clients, this is the better instrument than the property route. It costs a fraction of EUR 150,000, is unaffected by the January 2026 amendments, and, unlike the property permit, actually permits economic activity in Montenegro. Advisers default to the property route because it generates a commission. The company route usually serves the client better.
Qualifying routes
€1
Montenegrin company with self-employment
Minimum share capital of EUR 1. Residence comes through employment in your own company.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- €1
- Total landed cost
- EUR 2,000–5,000 to set up, plus EUR 200–500 a month for accounting and payroll.
- Route type
- Business & founder
- Timeline
- 1–3 months (Company registration, plus permit issuance.)
- Physical presence
- Required to build the 5-year permanent-residence clock.
- Family
- SpouseMinor children
- Permanent residency
- 5 years of continuous residence
- Citizenship
- 10 years, with mandatory renunciation
- Language test
- elementary Montenegrin
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted. You would have to renounce.
- Requirements
- registered Montenegrin companyemployment contract with own companyproof of accommodationhealth insuranceclean criminal record
What can go wrong
- The renunciation trap applies identically. This is a residence play, not a citizenship play.
- Self-employment is mandatory. Owning the company is not enough, and payroll plus social contributions follow.
- 9% corporate income tax is being fenced in by the Pillar Two DMTT gazetted 10 March 2026 for in-scope groups. Small structures are unaffected, but the direction is set.
- CFC rules, exit tax and the finer points of the residence tie-break are not confirmed by primary sources.
- Montenegro uses the euro without being in the eurozone. It has no central bank of its own and no lender of last resort.