Montenegro visa for Nigerians: entry, the UK eVisa question, residence, work permits, property, company and citizenship (2026)

"Is Montenegro visa-free for Nigerians?" No. On a Nigerian passport you need a Montenegrin visa. There is one exception that many Nigerians can use. A valid UK, US, Schengen, Irish or Canadian visa, or a residence permit in one of those countries, lets you enter Montenegro for up to 30 days without a Montenegrin visa.

For Nigerians living in the UK, that exception now raises a question the old answers do not cover. The BRP card that many still carry has expired, and UK status is now held as an eVisa. This guide explains what the Montenegrin rule actually requires. It then covers residence, work permits and recruitment offers, property, company, documents and citizenship. The general residence procedure is in our guide to applying for a Montenegro residence permit.

Law read as at 28 September 2026.

Montenegro:

• Decree on the Visa Regime (to Official Gazette 108/26);
• Law on Foreigners (consolidated to 3/2026);
• Law on Montenegrin Citizenship (13/2008 to 46/2011);
• Law on the Legalisation of Public Documents (66/2019);
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs country page for Nigeria.

Nigeria: Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, sections 28 and 29.

United Kingdom: GOV.UK guidance on biometric residence permits and eVisas.

General legal information, not advice on a specific case.

At a glance

The visa rule

Nigeria is not on the article 1 list of the Visa Decree, which gives 90 days visa-free. Nor is it in articles 1a, 2 or 3. Article 4 therefore requires a visa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Nigeria page says: "Nationals of Nigeria are required to obtain a visa to enter Montenegro."

The application is made in person, on the prescribed form, at a diplomatic or consular mission. Photograph and ten fingerprints are taken there (Law on Foreigners, art. 21). File at least:

• 15 days before travel for a short-stay C visa;
• 60 days before travel for a long-stay D visa.

Because the law requires a personal application, be cautious with any website selling a "Montenegro e-visa for Nigerians". Check that the site belongs to a Montenegrin authority before paying anyone.

Montenegro has no embassy in Nigeria. The ministry's page says that an applicant who cannot reach a Montenegrin mission may apply at the nearest mission of the Republic of Serbia, and names the Serbian Embassy in Abuja.

A D visa issued for work starts a clock. The residence-and-work permit must be applied for within 10 days of the visa's issue (art. 79(7)).

The exception: article 7, and the UK eVisa

What article 7 says

Article 7 of the Decree admits, for up to 30 days and without a Montenegrin visa, a holder of a valid travel document who has either:

• a valid visa of a Schengen state, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Japan or New Zealand; or
• a residence permit (dozvola boravka) of one of those states.

If that visa or permit expires sooner, the stay ends with it. The list is closed. Residence in the UAE, Qatar or South Africa does not count.

In practice:

• A Nigerian with a valid multiple-entry US B1/B2 visa or a Schengen visa enters on article 7.
• A Nigerian with UK leave to remain, settled status or indefinite leave to remain relies on the second limb: residence in the United Kingdom.

The BRP card has gone

The UK Government's guidance is explicit. All BRPs have now expired and have been replaced by eVisas, a digital record of identity and immigration status. An expired BRP can be used only for three UK purposes, and only for 24 months after its printed expiry date or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first:

• to view your eVisa and get a share code;
• to set up a UKVI account;
• to apply to extend your stay in the UK.

For every other purpose you prove your status with your eVisa, after linking it to your passport.

What that means at the Montenegrin border

The Decree requires a residence permit in the United Kingdom. It does not say it must be a card. The UK permission itself still exists; what has changed is that it no longer exists as a card. The Decree does not say how a Montenegrin border officer checks a digital status, and neither does the Law on Foreigners. So:

• Do not rely on an expired BRP as proof. The UK itself limits what it can be used for.
• Link your passport to your eVisa in your UKVI account before travel. Carry the evidence the UK guidance gives you for travel, together with the passport linked to it.
• Check with your airline before booking. Carriers check entry eligibility before boarding, and a refusal at the gate in London is the realistic risk.
• If you have a valid UK visa vignette in your passport, it remains valid until it expires.
• If you also hold a Schengen or US visa, you can enter on that visa under the first limb, which avoids the question altogether.

We explain article 7 in full in entering Montenegro with a US, UK or Schengen visa.

Staying longer: residence permits

Living in Montenegro requires a temporary residence permit, filed inside Montenegro. You can file in person at the Ministry of Interior office where you live (art. 61). You can also file online, then attend for photograph and fingerprints within 10 days of entering (art. 61b). A complete application filed before your permitted stay ends lets you remain until the decision is enforceable (art. 61(5)).

A temporary permit lapses if you spend more than 30 days outside Montenegro while it runs (art. 65(1)(3)). Permanent residence follows five years of continuous temporary residence (art. 86).

Work permits and "visa sponsorship" offers

Searches for "Montenegro jobs with visa sponsorship" are common. The legal structure is simple, and it is the best test of an offer:

• The employer applies. The residence-and-work permit is sought by a Montenegrin employer for a named worker, within the annual quota the Government sets before 30 November each year (arts. 69, 70 and 76).
• The employer must be real and in good standing. The permit is refused if the employer:
• has been penalised more than twice for undeclared work;
• is insolvent;
• is not operating; or
• is not paying contributions (art. 69(6)).
• The employer registers you. The employment contract is signed and you are registered for social insurance within 24 hours of the permit being issued (art. 70(6)).
• A visa is not a work permit. A tourist C visa does not let you work, and article 7 entry does not either.

An "agent" who asks for money to "get you a Montenegro work visa" cannot shorten any of these steps. Ask for:

• the employer's registered name, to check in Montenegro's Central Register of Business Entities;
• a written offer;
• the permit decision before you buy a ticket.

Employers hiring from Nigeria can read our guide to hiring Nigerian workers in Montenegro.

Nigerian documents: full legalisation

Nigeria is not a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. It does not appear in the Hague Conference's status table. A Nigerian public document is therefore accepted in Montenegro only after full legalisation. It is first certified by the competent Nigerian authorities, then legalised by the Montenegrin Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Montenegrin mission competent for Nigeria (Law 66/2019, art. 12(1)). The law applies reciprocity: Montenegro does not legalise documents of a state that does not legalise Montenegrin ones (art. 12(3)). Translation into Montenegrin by a court interpreter comes after legalisation.

Three documents usually set the pace:

• the police character certificate;
• the degree or trade certificate for a work permit;
• the birth and marriage certificates for family reunification.

Start them before anything else.

Buying property

A Nigerian buys an apartment, house, commercial unit or building land in Montenegro on the same terms as a Montenegrin (Law on Property Relations, art. 412). The exclusions are agricultural land, forest, islands and the one-kilometre land border strip (art. 415).

• Notarial deed is mandatory (Law on Notaries, art. 52). If you do not understand the language, a court interpreter must attend (art. 47).
• Deposit (kapara): not a right to walk away by forfeiting it unless the contract says so (Law on Obligations, arts. 75 and 79).
• Payment: €10,000 or more, deposit included, through an account at a Montenegrin bank; cash is prohibited (AML Law, art. 65a). The bank will ask where the money comes from, so keep the full transfer trail.
• Transfer tax, paid by the buyer: 3% to €150,000, 5% on the band to €500,000, 6% above (Law on Real Estate Transfer Tax, art. 11).

Before signing, read buying property in Montenegro without an agent. If you are buying from abroad, read about the power of attorney for a Montenegrin purchase.

Company

A d.o.o. you own and run supports a director permit outside the quota (art. 78). To renew it, you must show €5,000 a year paid in taxes and contributions (art. 70). After registration the beneficial owner is recorded. Nigeria is not on Montenegro's list of territories that attract the 30% withholding rate, and there is no double tax treaty between the two countries. If you spend more than 183 days a year in Montenegro, or have your centre of interests there, you become Montenegrin tax resident (Personal Income Tax Law, art. 3). Whether Nigeria still taxes you after the move is a Nigerian question. See our company formation service.

Citizenship: it depends how you became Nigerian

Montenegrin ordinary naturalisation requires ten years' lawful, continuous residence and release from your existing citizenship (Law on Montenegrin Citizenship, art. 8(1)(2)). The law waives release for someone who proves they will lose the other citizenship automatically on becoming Montenegrin. The Nigerian Constitution splits Nigerians into two groups.

• Nigerian by birth. Acquiring another citizenship does not end Nigerian citizenship. To meet the Montenegrin condition you renounce under section 29. Any Nigerian citizen of full age may make the declaration; the section does not require you to hold another citizenship first. Registration ends Nigerian citizenship. The President may withhold registration during a war in which Nigeria is physically involved, or if it is contrary to public policy. Montenegro can issue a two-year guarantee of admission while you obtain release (art. 9).
• Nigerian by registration or naturalisation. Section 28(1) provides that such a person forfeits Nigerian citizenship forthwith on acquiring the citizenship of a country of which they are not a citizen by birth. That is the automatic loss the Montenegrin waiver refers to.

Two Montenegrin routes need no release at all:

• marriage: three years' marriage to a Montenegrin citizen and five years' residence (art. 11);
• Montenegrin emigrant descent: two years' residence (art. 10).

How we work with Nigerian clients

We start with the entry route:

• article 7 on your US, Schengen or UK status, with the eVisa evidence in order;
• or a visa through a Montenegrin mission or the Serbian Embassy in Abuja.

Then we choose the permit. We give you the list of documents to legalise in Nigeria, in the right order, and file in Montenegro within your permitted stay. On a purchase we check the property, calculate the tax and route the payment through a Montenegrin bank. We do not sell job placements or visas. Write to us with your situation: contact.