About Montenegro

Montenegro is a member of UN, WTO and NATO. Tourism is developing into a major industry in the country with tourist arrivals registering a 10% increase in 2018. While the country is a part of the Eurozone, full EU membership is expected by the end of 2025. Montenegro’s passport gives holders access to over 120 countries visa free including EU Schengen countries. Recognizing the potential of Montenegro, ARTON has launched its operations in the capital city of Podgorica in 2016 and has a fully operational office there. You can find more information about Montenegro on our website.

The Citizenship by Investment Program

As a part of its development strategy, the Government has launched, as of the beginning of 2019, a Citizenship by Investment program which aims at attracting FDI to support public projects as well as the development of the tourism sector. The Government has announced that it will limit the number of applications to 2,000 for a total period of 3 years starting on January 1, 2019, so I recommend that you seriously consider the opportunity to contribute to the development of the Montenegrin economy and make an investment in one of the fastest-growing economies in the Balkans.

General requirements and provisions of the program

Foreign investors and family members will need to meet certain criteria for enrolment in the program such as contribution thresholds and age of accompanying dependents. The Government has not set an exact minimum amount for the applicant’s net worth as a qualification threshold for the program. The general rule is that an applicant should be solvent enough to make the required investment and the contribution, pay the associated government and due diligence fees, and be able to support their dependents. All applicants must be of excellent health, be of an outstanding character and have clear criminal record.

Qualifying family members include:

• Spouse – a person of the opposite sex to whom the applicant is legally married;
• Children (whether by blood or adopted) provided that the principal applicant has legal custody over the child. Children over the age of 18 qualify if they are financially dependent on the principal applicant. In the case of adoption, all adoption papers will have to be disclosed.
  
  
  
  Investment options
  
  Applicants must make mandatory contribution to an approved Government fund and to make an investment in a real estate development that is approved by the program. 
  
  Currently, only one such project is approved, and we are pleased to provide information about this opportunity:

• Project: Westin Hotel
• Property manager: York Hotels & Reports under the franchise of Marriott International
• Property owner: Kolasin Resort & SPA
• Location: Kolasin town, which is in the northern part of the country. The development is located on the Ski Center 1450, just few meters away from the ski slopes
• Investment option: fractional ownership (shares in the asset are sold to individual shareholders who share the benefits of the asset)
• Investment capacity: the total number of investors in this project is 240. The project has already secured financing and it can be developed without the funds that the applicants under the program are expected to invest. Applicants who invest in the project will deposit their investment in an escrow account managed by independent auditors. It is estimated that investors will get an annual return of 4% on their investment after the project is operational.
  
  The investment must be kept for a period of 5 years as of the date of signing of the sale agreement for the property.
  
  
  
  Investment requirements

As of 2019, only one investment option is available – investment in real estate, with two categories:

• €250,000 in approved properties located in an undeveloped region (in the northern region of Montenegro)
• €450,000 in approved properties in a developed region (the coastline and the capital city of Podgorica)

In addition to that, applicants must make a non-refundable contribution (donation) to a state fund at the amount of €100,000 regardless of the investment category that they have chosen.

The above requirements apply per family, regardless of the number of applicants. 

Required documents

There are agreements and forms, civil status documents, documents related to business background and banking history, and other documents that applicants are required to provide. Some of these are required in copy and some must be originals. ARTON’s application analysts will guide and advise you throughout the process of document collection. To comply with its internal KYC policy, ARTON will request principal applicants and their spouse to send a clear copy of their valid passports and a CV of the principal applicant. Subject to successful completion of this internal procedure, applicants will be invited to sign a Client Facilitator Agreement with ARTON and will be onboarded for the process.

The process

There are four main stages that successful applicants will undergo:

The time to complete the building of the file and investment stages are conditional to the client’s availability and resources. Once the application is submitted, it takes up to 3 months to complete the entire process for all applicants.

Disbursements associated with the application

The following disbursements must be made by the applicants

• Investment amount and contribution amounts in accordance with the program thresholds:
  • €250,000 in approved properties located in an undeveloped region (in the northern region of Montenegro) or €450,000 in approved properties in a developed region (the coastline and the capital city of Podgorica)
  • €100,000 non-refundable contribution to a state fund
• Government fees:
  • €15,000 for main applicant
  • €10,000 per dependent for up to 4 dependents
  • €50,000 fifth and next dependent, per person
• Due diligence fees:
  • €7,000 for a single applicant
  • €10,000 for up to 4 dependents
  • €1,500 fifth and next dependent, per person
• ARTON advisory fees:
  • €25,000 for the main applicant
  • €5,000 spouse/dependent child, per person
    
    
    
    Please see below the payment schedule:

Kindly note that applicants will also have to cover all costs pertaining to visa application, issuance, translation and authentication of documents, travel and accommodation expenses, bank fees and charges for all bank transfers, and other incidental costs based on their individual cases and family composition.

Please Contact Us for more information