As of 2 October 2026. Status: set row by row — In force; Adopted, not yet in force; or In process (draft/bill). Scope: the 18 status notes we wrote from official texts between 1 and 30 September 2026. The bill and the adopted version of the Border Control Act share one row, which leaves 17 instruments. Gazette references and article numbers sit in each row's own note.
Most questions that reached us in September made the same mistake. They treated the publication date, the date of entry into force and the date of application as one date. They are often three. Montenegro's new structural rulebook entered into force on 12 September 2026 and does not apply until 12 March 2027. The criminal code amendment went the other way: no eight-day buffer at all, six days from the vote to force. One table, sorted by the date that actually binds you, is the reason this summary exists.
The September table
| Note | Instrument | Status on 2 October 2026 | Date that binds you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep | Foreigners Act bill, new Art. 70g (EPA 1181) | In process (draft/bill) | None yet; in parliament |
| 3 Sep | CMB Communiqué III-42.1.b, remote ID by passport (TR) | In force | 3 September 2026 |
| 4 Sep | Structural rulebook, Sl. list 130/2026 | In force | Applies 12 March 2027 |
| 4 Sep | DNA and fingerprint data protocol (EPA 1184) | In process (draft/bill) | None |
| 5 Sep | Money market fund withholding, Decision 11734 (TR) | In force | 5 September 2026 |
| 7 Sep | Confiscation of criminal proceeds act, 131/2026 | In force | 8 September 2026 |
| 9 Sep | Police data act, 132/2026 | Adopted, not yet in force | Applies 17 March 2027 |
| 9 Sep | Criminal procedure amendment, 132/2026 | In force | 17 September 2026 |
| 9 Sep | Transfer tax, life partners, 132/2026 | In force | 10 September 2026 |
| 14 Sep | Data protection act, 133/2026 | Adopted, not yet in force | Applies 19 March 2027 |
| 18 Sep | Written letter of rights form, 135/2026 | In force | 17 September 2026 |
| 19 Sep | Euro model package, six bills | In process (draft/bill) | 1 January 2027 per the bills |
| 20 Sep | Criminal code amendment, 137/2026 | In force | 22 September 2026 |
| 22 Sep | EU judicial cooperation act, 137/2026 | Adopted, not yet in force | EU accession day |
| 25 Sep | Ending visa waiver treaties (TR, RU, BY) | In process (draft/bill) | Turkish treaty: not before 24 March 2027 on our count |
| 29 Sep | Legalisation commission rulebook, 140/2026 | In force | 25 September 2026 |
| 14 and 30 Sep | Border Control Act (EPA 1193), adopted 29 Sep | Adopted, not yet in force | Eighth day after gazette; none yet |
What binds you today
If you are detained in Montenegro, two texts now work together. The criminal procedure amendment has required since 17 September 2026 that your rights be given in writing and in a language you understand, and rulebook 135/2026, in force the same day, published the form itself. When we first wrote it up, the amendment sat in the "adopted, not yet in force" row. It has moved.
Buying property? Law 131/2026 orders a freezing order over suspected criminal proceeds to be entered in the cadastre. A note on the list nepokretnosti is no longer a detail a seller can wave away. Owners with a pending legalisation file have, since 25 September, carried the cost of the on-site commission (140/2026).
On the Turkish side, foreign investors can now open brokerage and crypto accounts remotely with a passport (III-42.1.b), and company gains on money market funds have carried 10% withholding since 5 September 2026 (Decision 11734).
Adopted, but not yet applied
The data protection act (133/2026) entered into force on 19 September 2026. Its fine ceiling of €2,000,000 or 4% of worldwide turnover, whichever is higher, applies from 19 March 2027. The police data act runs on the same six-month gap, closing on 17 March 2027.
The EU judicial cooperation act came into force on 29 September. Its last article ties application to the day Montenegro joins the EU, so a European Arrest Warrant does not run directly in Montenegro today; cases still go through the 2018 act (85/18) and the extradition treaties.
The Border Control Act passed 43-0 on 29 September. On 2 October there is neither a promulgation decree nor a Službeni list reference; the latest issue, 142/2026, carries no law. The rule that a child under 16 crossing on an ID card with one parent needs the other parent's consent (Art. 64) is therefore not yet applied at the border.
Still bills
The Article 70g bill would create a residence permit for a €250,000 investment, open to EU citizens only. Parliament's page still reads "U proceduri" on 2 October. We had not seen the six euro model bills on parliament's "U proceduri" list by the same date.
Ending the visa waiver treaties is a government decision, not a completed termination. Article 11 of the Turkish treaty keeps it alive for six months after written notice; the Russian treaty ends 90 days after the other side receives notice (Art. 11(4)).
What did not change
None of the September texts moved the 1 November 2026 visa date for ordinary Turkish passports. The Foreigners Act in force still lists no investment ground for residence; Art. 70g is only a bill. We saw no text touching Türkiye's USD 400,000 citizenship-by-investment threshold.
How to verify
Every published Montenegrin text can be found in the Službeni list search by issue number: 130, 131, 132, 133, 135, 137 and 140 of 2026. For parliamentary texts, open the act page on zakoni.skupstina.me. The "Status" field lags the vote by days; the Listing glasanja in the document list is what proves adoption. Turkish texts are in the Resmî Gazete archive: issue 33359 of 3 September and issue 33361 of 5 September 2026.
In October we are watching two things: the Border Control Act's gazette reference and the committee stage of Art. 70g. When either row changes, the table will be updated on our Legal Updates page. If your file turns on one of these texts, our Montenegro visa guide is a good place to start before you write to us through the contact page.
