867 investors have purchased citizenship, seven more are waiting

867 foreigners have been granted Montenegrin citizenship based on investments through the economic citizenship program and payment of an administrative fee and innovation fee, and seven more applications are in the process with the Police Directorate. A total of 239 applications have been rejected.

This is stated in the Information on the Status of the Special Investment Program of Special Importance for the Economic and Commercial Interest of Montenegro (Financial Aspect), with data as of April 30, 2026.

In addition to the investor himself, their spouses and children could acquire citizenship through the same application. So the total number could be over two thousand foreigners who become Montenegrin citizens on this basis.

Their total investments amounted to 251 million euros, while they also paid a fee of 100 thousand euros. Of the fee, minus agent and bank commissions, 43,5 million were collected as administrative fees for the budget and another 31,2 million euros for the Innovation Fund.

According to this program, a foreigner could obtain Montenegrin citizenship if he invested 450 thousand euros in one of the development projects in the capital and the coastal region or an amount of at least 250 thousand euros in the northern or central region excluding Podgorica.

Although the development programs related to investments in tourism, agriculture and the processing industry, 250,5 million refers to tourism, or the purchase of apartments and flats in so-called condo hotels by investors selected by the Government, while only half a million refers to investments by foreigners in agriculture and the processing industry.

The list of tourism investments in which foreigners could invest - buy apartments - includes parts of the Porto Montenegro, PortoNovi, Luštica Bay settlements, but also domestic investors in Kolašin and Žabljak, such as Zoran Bećirović, Petros Statis, "Bemakha",...

The program lasted until December 31, 2022, and a total of 1.113 applications for acquiring Montenegrin citizenship on this basis were submitted to the Investment Agency of Montenegro.

The program was suspended at the request of the European Union, which stated that Montenegro, as a candidate for membership, cannot sell its citizenships, and open doubts about its regularity and fears that some suspicious individuals would receive citizenship of the future member state, as well as “due to risks such as money laundering, terrorist financing and organized crime.” The EU has opposed this project since its inception in 2019.

Vlada Dritan Abazović officially notified the European Commission in January 2023 that it had stopped accepting new applications on 31 December 2022, in line with the EC's recommendations on the risks posed by the programme. Applications submitted before that deadline continued to be processed, and there were 787 of them at that time.

The Government announced at the time that they were looking for an alternative to continue a similar program in a way that would be acceptable to the EU and that would satisfy Montenegro's interests in economic development.

According to previous data, more than half of the applicants were from Russia, followed by China, the USA, Ukraine, Vietnam, Lebanon, etc.

In court disputes, 25 requests that the Ministry of Interior previously rejected

Several applicants who were rejected, as "Vijesti" reported, filed lawsuits against Montenegro, which is why the Administrative Court, at the end of November 2025, annulled several decisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), assessing that they were issued with the incorrect application of the law.

Although the verdicts are clear, even after half a year, the Ministry of Interior has not completed some of the proceedings or acted on the court decisions, which is why Miloš Vukčević, the lawyer for several applicants from Russia, warned in "Vijesti" two weeks ago that the state risks millions in damages due to the delay, as well as potential new lawsuits.

In the judgments of the Administrative Court, which relate to 25 applications, it was determined that the Ministry of Interior incorrectly applied substantive law when rejecting the applicants, relying on the provisions of the Law on Montenegrin Citizenship, which do not apply to the Economic Citizenship Program.

The Ministry of Interior said at the time that regardless of the procedures stipulated in Article 4 of the Decision on the criteria, manner and procedure for selecting persons who can acquire Montenegrin citizenship through admission through a special Economic Citizenship Program - the Government reserves the right to conduct independent checks of applicants, "at its discretion and in accordance with relevant and international law."

The Ministry of Interior cited the negative opinions of the ANB, which pointed to alleged obstacles from the perspective of national security, as the key reason for rejecting the request.

Based on investments and fees, they have eight million euros trapped in a transitional account until the dispute is resolved.