Montenegrin Nationality Law - Economic Citizenship

Economic Citizenship

In addition to the rather strict mechanisms for naturalisation, Montenegro has a programme of citizenship-by-investment or economic citizenship (ekonomsko državljanstvo), allowing foreigners to be granted the citizenship of Montenegro at the discretion of the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration. Though the enabling legislation remains in place, the programme was suspended in November 2010.

Article 12 of the Citizenship Act of 2008 states that "An adult person may be granted Montenegrin citizenship if he or she does not fulfil the requirements referred to in Article 8 of this Law if it would be in the scientific, economic, cultural, sport, national, or other interest of Montenegro". In March 2010, former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra received citizenship under this article due to his investments in tourism in Montenegro which were reported to be in the range of millions of Euros, despite pending charges of corruption that had been laid against him in his home country. The move sparked public criticism, but government spokeswoman Olivera Đukanović dismissed the concerns by claiming that other countries had similar programs.

Formal guidelines for the programme were announced in mid-2010; they stated that candidates would require €500,000, of which one portion would be invested inside the country and the rest would have to be contributed to the state budget. In the light of German reports in August that Oleg Deripaska would be granted citizenship under the programme, more criticism emerged. Movement for Changes leader Nebojša Medojević as well as Vanja Ćalović of NGO MANS were quoted as warning that the programme would attract gangsters and increase corruption. Budimir Aleksić of the Poslanik Nove for his part complained that the government would "sell citizenship" while leaving 60,000 residents of Montenegro stateless. Stephan Meyer of Germany's Christian Social Union also spoke out against it, and said it might threaten the recent moves to grant Montenegrin passport-holders visa-free travel within the Schengen Area. However others offered public praise to the programme, including Canadian ambassador to Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia John Morrison, who compared it to Canada's own visa policy, which has provisions for granting visas to investors.

Later in August, when rumours surfaced that Serbian businessman Miroslav Mišković was in the process of applying for citizenship under the program, then Prime Minister Milo Đukanović denied the reports, and further stated that the process of receiving applications for economic citizenship under the new guidelines had not yet begun. Then in November 2010, the Montenegrin Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally announced the suspension of the previous guidelines about economic citizenship. Media reports attributed this action to pressure from the European Union, though MFA spokesman Zeljko Stamatović denied it. As of June 2011, the programme remained suspended. According to a Dnevne Novine report; concerns remained that the citizenship-by-investment programme would not attract genuine investors but only people engaged in money laundering and those who sought to hide from crimes committed abroad (as Montenegro does not extradite its citizens). However, others argue that the programme could help in attracting foreign investment capital to Montenegro, especially from Americans living abroad who remain fully subject to U.S. taxation unless they switch citizenships.