Montenegro work permit renewal and the 30 day filing window

An application to extend a temporary residence and work permit is filed with the Ministry of Interior no earlier than 60 and no later than 30 days before the permit expires. The window is set by Article 82 of the Law on Foreigners. The renewal fee is 30 euros and a complete file is decided within 15 days.

That 30 day edge is where employers most often lose the clean status of a worker who spent a year on site without a single remark. A file lodged 29 days before expiry is out of time, and one lodged 61 days before expiry is premature. Employers running several workers usually mark the expiry date in a calendar when they should mark two dates, the opening and the closing of the window.

What the renewal file contains

For employment and seasonal employment, Article 82(2) requires four items. The first is a valid foreign travel document or an identity card issued by another state. The second is proof of secured accommodation. The third is the employer's written job offer for a named position. The fourth is proof that taxes and contributions were settled over the period the permit was valid.

The fourth item stops the most files, because it concerns the employer rather than the worker. Unpaid contributions for any month of the previous period show on the certificate and the file stops there. The same certificate is required at first issue where the worker has previously held a permit, which follows from Article 79(2).

Where five years have passed since the photograph, two fingerprints and digitised signature were taken, those details are taken again. That means the worker has to attend in person, so planning a fifth renewal has to account for the worker's presence, not only for the delivery of documents.

Terms by permit type

A renewal may be filed by the worker or the employer, which differs from first issue, where Article 79 requires personal filing with an exception in the employer's favour. Article 80 governs the decision, so the same 15 day deadline applies, the same seven day opinion from the National Security Agency and the police, and the same eight day appeal from service of the decision.

Two reasons a renewal fails

The first is absence from the country. Article 83(1)(6) provides that a permit ceases to be valid where the worker stays outside Montenegro for more than 30 days during the temporary residence. An absence of up to 90 days is allowed, but only where the worker notifies the police of the departure and its reasons beforehand. A worker who goes home after the season and returns two months later without that prior notice does not renew a permit; that worker files a fresh application, with the full 67 euros in fees and the full documentary set.

The second is the employer's standing. The Article 83 grounds that attach to the employer also bite at renewal: a penalty for illegal employment or for failing to register a foreigner's work, insolvency, ceasing to carry on an activity, and a penalty for unpaid taxes and contributions for workers. The deadlines that keep those situations from arising are set out in our review of employer obligations.

A clean run of renewals leads to a more durable status. Article 86 provides for a permanent residence permit for a foreign national who, by the date of application, has resided lawfully in Montenegro for five uninterrupted years on temporary residence. A break caused by a missed 30 day window resets that run, which is the most expensive consequence of an administrative lapse in the whole procedure.

The first issue procedure is set out in our guide to the temporary residence and work permit, and the full fee schedule in our cost breakdown. How we keep the renewal calendar is described on the employers page.