Flags of the EU and Montenegro (illustration), Photo: Shuuterstock
Montenegro made progress towards further alignment with the list of countries requiring a visa for the European Union (EU) in 2024 and 2025. After regressing at the beginning of 2025, Montenegro subsequently terminated visa-free agreements with five countries and reduced the number of seasonal visa exemptions from four to one, as a result of which the total number of discrepancies between Montenegro’s visa policy and EU policy was reduced from 15 to nine, according to the European Commission’s (EC) Visa Policy Report published today, RTCG reports.
As stated in the report, on 27 October 2025, in response to an internal incident involving Turkish nationals, the Government of Montenegro introduced a temporary visa regime for citizens of Turkey, with the primary aim of preserving public order and security of Montenegrin citizens. Since it is temporary (although without a known expiry date), it is added, this measure cannot currently be considered a permanent interruption of Montenegro’s visa-free regime with Turkey.
“The Commission will monitor the situation as it develops,” the EC report says.
Visa-free countries that implement investor citizenship schemes pose inherent security risks because they potentially allow third-country nationals who would otherwise be subject to visa requirements to bypass standard security checks and gain access to the Schengen area by acquiring citizenship, it was warned, RTCG reports.
“Montenegro officially ended its program on December 31, 2022. However, authorities continued to process citizenship applications submitted before the program closed. In 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued 1.282 decisions granting Montenegrin citizenship to applicants and their family members. As of April 2025, 29 remaining applications were still being processed,” the report says.
Montenegro has responded to some of the Commission’s previous recommendations, notably by reducing the list of visa-free countries that otherwise require visas for the EU. It also continues to monitor remaining citizenship requirements.
“However, some issues remain to be resolved,” it added, according to the RTCG portal.
The first is harmonisation with the EU visa list.
“Montenegro must align its visa policy with the list of third countries requiring a visa. Montenegro must not grant any more seasonal visa waivers, including those countries that have been removed from the permanent list of visa-free countries. Montenegro should also align its visa procedures with Schengen standards, in particular by introducing the collection of biometric data (including a digital photograph and fingerprints) as part of the examination of visa applications,” the report stated.
In the meantime, Montenegro must implement targeted security measures, such as increased screening of arrivals from visa-exempt countries, and document their effectiveness in reducing illegal migration and security risks.
Regarding the visa application infrastructure, in preparation for the transition to a revised visa policy, Montenegro should expand its visa issuance capacity through the digitalization of elements of the issuance process, to enable citizens of currently visa-exempt countries to apply for a visa once the exemption is lifted.
“This will facilitate administrative processing and support policy alignment. Montenegro must ensure that the legal basis of the investor citizenship scheme is abolished and that all pending applications under the now abolished scheme are processed in accordance with the highest security standards. In addition, possible cases of granting citizenships previously through this scheme to persons subject to international restrictive measures must be reviewed and annulled where necessary,” the European Commission report concluded.
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