Montenegro new Form 3 for residence and work from 1 November

From 1 November 2026, an application for a temporary residence permit, or a temporary residence and work permit, in Montenegro is lodged on the new Form 3. The rulebook published in Official Gazette of Montenegro 147/2026 replaces Forms 3 and 4 in full. The new form asks for the employer's PIB or registration number and email.

Where a file stalls in the first days of November

The likeliest problem in the first week is administrative rather than legal. An employer that prepared its file in October on the old Form 3 has no field for the employer PIB or the employer email. If that file is lodged at a Ministry of Interior regional unit after 1 November 2026, the unit can ask for the new form and the start date slips.

The amending rulebook on the forms, conditions and procedure for temporary residence and temporary residence and work permits was published on 8 October 2026 under registration number 2513. It entered into force on 16 October 2026 and applies from 1 November 2026. The Ministry of Interior adopted it under Foreigners Act Articles 41(8), 61(7), 62(7), 64(7), 79(10), 80(8) and 82(7). The text is in the Official Gazette of Montenegro.

The base rulebook (Official Gazette 25/19) has been amended six times, most recently by 12/25. Article 4 of the new amendment does not patch Forms 3 and 4, it replaces them in full. Any copy printed before November should be treated as superseded.

Employer data on the new Form 3

The new Form 3 is a single application for a temporary residence permit or a temporary residence and work permit. It is printed in Montenegrin and English, so the worker can check the data he or she signs.

The work section asks for the following:

Where the permit covers executive director duties with several employers, the form requires the data of every employer. An HR office preparing such a file should collect the PIB, email and seat address of each company in advance.

The applicant also ticks how to be told of the application status: the Ministry of Interior web portal, email, or post to the employer's headquarters address. If email is chosen, the address on the form should be one that someone in the company reads every day.

Finally, the applicant signs that the data match the attached documents and that any change before entry goes through a Montenegrin embassy or consulate.

Family reunification, marital status and travel documents

Article 3 of the rulebook rewrites Article 12 of the base rulebook. Family reunification is proven by a competent authority document showing close family ties to a citizen or resident foreigner, or by other proof. A new point extends that proof to a same sex life partner of a Montenegrin citizen or of a foreigner holding permanent or temporary residence.

Article 2 adds same sex life partnership beside marital status in Article 6(1). Form 3 therefore offers in partnership, terminated and dissolved boxes.

Article 1 adds a travel document issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the definition of a foreign travel document.

Checklist before lodging

1. Print Form 3 in the version from Official Gazette 147/2026 and withdraw old copies.
2. Enter the employer's name, PIB or registration number and email.
3. Enter the state, municipality and address of the seat, and the municipality and place of work.
4. State the type of activity and the worker's occupation.
5. For an executive director with several employers, enter the data of every employer.
6. Tick the channel for status notices.
7. Check that the data match the attached documents before signing.

The full procedure is covered in the guide to the temporary residence and work permit, and renewal timing in the post on permit renewal deadlines. Open roles are on the job board.