Two groups search for "Montenegro visa Japan". The first holds Japanese passports and wants to know whether they need a visa. They do not. The second lives in Japan on a foreign passport and wants to know whether a Japanese residence card gets them in. It can, for 30 days.
This page covers both. It then covers what a Japanese citizen needs for a longer stay, and three Japanese rules that belong in the plan before you leave:
- the exit tax on securities;
- the tax agent you must appoint;
- the rule that acquiring another nationality ends Japanese nationality.
What we read, on 28 September 2026. Montenegro: Decree on the Visa Regime (consolidated to Official Gazette 108/26); Law on Foreigners (Zakon o strancima, consolidated to 3/2026; the one-article amendment 33/2026 has not appeared in any public consolidation); Personal Income Tax Law; Law on Citizenship. Japan, from the e-Gov law database: Income Tax Act (Act No. 33 of 1965), articles 2, 60-2 and 137-2; Act on General Rules for National Taxes (Act No. 66 of 1962), article 117; Nationality Act (Act No. 147 of 1950), article 11. General legal information, not advice on an individual case.
At a glance
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Visa for Japanese passport holders? | None, up to 90 days | Visa Decree (Montenegro), art. 1 |
| Can a foreigner living in Japan enter on the residence card? | Yes, up to 30 days, or until the permit or visa expires if sooner | Visa Decree, art. 7 |
| Can I apply for residence inside Montenegro? | Yes, with a complete application before day 90 | Law on Foreigners, art. 61 |
| When am I no longer a Japanese resident for tax? | When you have neither a domicile in Japan nor a residence there for a year or more | Income Tax Act, art. 2 |
| Exit tax? | Securities are treated as sold on departure if they total ¥100 million or more and you lived in Japan more than 5 of the last 10 years | Income Tax Act, art. 60-2 |
| Tax agent? | Required when you leave and still have Japanese tax matters | Act on General Rules for National Taxes, art. 117 |
| Montenegrin citizenship later? | Acquiring it voluntarily ends Japanese nationality | Nationality Act, art. 11 |
| Japanese documents | Apostille (Japan has applied the Convention since 27.7.1970) | Hague Convention 1961 |
Entry: two different rules
Japanese passport. Article 1 of the Montenegrin Decree on the Visa Regime lists Japan. Japanese citizens enter without a visa for up to 90 days, within the general cap of 90 days in any 180 (Law on Foreigners, art. 34).
Japanese visa or residence card, on another passport. Article 7 of the same Decree covers people who need a Montenegrin visa, for example Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese or Chinese nationals living in Japan. They may enter and stay up to 30 days if they hold either:
- a valid visa issued by Japan, a Schengen state, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia or New Zealand; or
- a residence permit from one of those countries.
If the visa or permit expires sooner, the stay ends with it. That is the answer to "Montenegro using Japan visa".
Staying longer: the permits
A stay of more than 90 days needs a temporary residence permit. You apply inside Montenegro, in person at the Ministry of Interior office for your address (art. 61) or online (art. 61b). A complete application filed before day 90 lets you remain until the final decision (art. 61(5)). The Ministry has 40 days to decide a residence permit and 15 for residence with work (arts. 62 and 80). The full file is described in our application guide.
| Your situation | Permit | Key condition | Law on Foreigners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote work for a Japanese or other foreign employer or clients | Digital nomad | Two years, renewable for two | arts. 38(12a) and 60a |
| Engineer or developer hired in Montenegro | IT residence and work | Contract of 12 months or more; up to 3 years, renewable for 3; no quota | arts. 70a and 78 |
| Your own company | Director of a d.o.o. | Over 51 % of the capital; €5,000 a year paid in taxes and contributions to renew | arts. 69 and 70 |
| Buying a home | Residence through property | At least half of the property; transfer-tax base of €150,000 or more | art. 56 |
| Spouse and children | Family reunification | Derived from the main permit | art. 44 |
The temporary permit lapses after more than 30 days outside Montenegro (art. 65). A long trip home for Obon or New Year can end it. Permanent residence requires five uninterrupted years on any temporary permits (art. 86). More on residence through property, through a company and the digital nomad permit.
Japanese tax when you leave
Who is a resident
Article 2 of the Income Tax Act defines a resident (居住者) as an individual who has a domicile (住所) in Japan, or who has had a residence (居所) there continuously for one year or more. Everyone else is a non-resident. When you move your life to Montenegro, the question is whether your domicile, the centre of your life, has left Japan with you.
The exit tax (国外転出時課税)
Article 60-2 treats a resident who leaves Japan as having sold their securities at the time of departure, including shares, fund units and certain partnership interests. It also treats open margin trades and derivatives as settled.
It applies only if both of these are true (art. 60-2(5)):
- the total value of those assets is ¥100 million or more;
- you had a domicile or residence in Japan for more than five years in the ten years before departure.
Three features are worth planning around:
- Valuation date. In the usual case, where you notify a tax agent and the return is filed after you leave, the assets are valued at the time of departure. If you instead settle the year before leaving without a tax agent, the value is taken three months before the planned departure (art. 60-2(1)).
- Returning within five years. If you return to Japan within five years and still hold the assets, the deemed sale can be undone (art. 60-2(6)(i)). The same applies to assets given to a Japanese resident, or on death within that period.
- Deferral. The tax can be deferred until five years after departure, or until you return. The conditions are a tax agent notified before you leave and security lodged by the filing deadline (art. 137-2).
The tax agent (納税管理人)
Article 117 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes requires an individual who ceases to have a domicile and residence in Japan, and who still needs to file returns or deal with other Japanese tax matters, to appoint a tax agent living in Japan. The appointment must be notified to the tax office. If you do not, the tax office can require a notification in writing, with a deadline of up to 60 days.
A Japanese rental flat, dividends from Japanese shares, or a pending exit-tax deferral all keep you in the Japanese tax system after you leave.
Montenegro at the same time
Montenegro treats you as tax resident if your domicile or centre of interests is there, or you stay more than 183 days in the tax year (Personal Income Tax Law, art. 3). It then taxes worldwide income (art. 4), credits foreign tax up to the Montenegrin tax on the same income (art. 44), and does not treat pensions as income (art. 5(9)). Japan and Montenegro have no tax treaty. Our Asian map of treaties Montenegro does not have shows what that means for investors, and residence permit and tax residence explains why the two are decided separately.
Nationality: why a Japanese citizen should stop at permanent residence
Article 11(1) of the Nationality Act says a Japanese national who acquires a foreign nationality by their own choice loses Japanese nationality. Montenegrin citizenship by naturalisation would be exactly that. The ordinary Montenegrin route also requires ten years of residence and release from your current citizenship (Law on Citizenship, art. 8).
For a Japanese citizen, the realistic end point in Montenegro is permanent residence after five years (Law on Foreigners, art. 86). It is granted for an indefinite period, on a card valid for five years and renewed. It lets you live and work in Montenegro without affecting your Japanese nationality. Our citizenship guide covers the rest.
Company and property
Company. A d.o.o. is the base of the director permit. Register the beneficial owner after incorporation, and keep the business real: the permit is cancelled if the company exists mainly to obtain it (Law on Foreigners, art. 83). Japan is not on Montenegro's list of territories subject to 30 % withholding. There is no treaty to lower Montenegrin withholding. Shares in your own Montenegrin company are securities for the purpose of the Japanese exit tax if you later leave Japan as a resident. See our company formation service.
Property. Japanese citizens buy flats, houses, commercial units and building land on the same terms as Montenegrins (Property Relations Law, art. 412). They cannot buy farmland, forest, property on islands, or in the one-kilometre land border strip (art. 415).
- Deed. The sale requires a notarial deed (Law on Notaries, art. 52). If you do not understand Montenegrin, a court interpreter must be present (art. 47).
- Deposit. The deposit is earnest money and does not buy a right to walk away unless the contract says so (Law on Obligations, arts. 75 and 79).
- Payment. Payments of €10,000 or more go through a Montenegrin bank, and cash is prohibited (AML Law, art. 65a).
- Transfer tax. The buyer pays 3 % up to €150,000, 5 % on the band up to €500,000 and 6 % above (Real Estate Transfer Tax Law, art. 11).
The payment route is in how the money moves. If you plan to build, see the building permit process.
Documents and practical points
- Apostille. Japan has applied the Apostille Convention since 27 July 1970. A family register extract (戸籍謄本), police certificate, degree certificate or notarised power of attorney needs a Japanese apostille. It is then translated in Montenegro by a court interpreter, in that order. A power of attorney to buy or sell must be special and identify the property (Law on Obligations, art. 87).
- Social security. Japan and Montenegro have no social security agreement: Japan is not on the Montenegrin Pension Fund's list.
- Household goods and car. Customs relief on moving is covered in moving to Montenegro: customs relief.
How we work with Japanese clients
We choose the permit and prepare the list of documents to apostille in Japan before departure. We file inside your 90 days and keep the permit years continuous toward permanent residence. For your Japanese tax adviser we assemble the Montenegrin facts: your permit, address, lease or title, and Montenegrin tax status. They need them for the domicile question, the exit-tax valuation and the tax agent. On a purchase we check the title, calculate the tax and arrange payment. Write to us: contact.
