When going on vacation to Montenegro you face the question what documents will be needed to cross the border – ID card or passport? This dilemma is due to the fact that Montenegro is not a member of the European Union or the Schengen area.
Therefore, one would assume that you will cross the Montenegrin border only with a passport in your hand. However, European Union citizens can enter Montenegro only on the basis of a valid ID card.
ID or passport to Montenegro?
Entry regulations for Montenegro clearly say:
- up to 30 days, any EU citizen may enter Montenegro with a valid ID card
- for stays over 30 days to 90 days you will need a passport valid for three months ahead
- and above 90 days for a stay in Montenegro you will need a visa issued by the Embassy of Montenegro
The most doubts and dilemmas arise when crossing the Montenegrin border with minors. In many places you can read that children should take their passport with them, because customs officers at the border may not let the children pass on an ID card, but in fact that children under 18 fall under the same ordinance, that is: up to 30 days of stay in Montenegro is enough ID card, a passport is required from 30 days to 90 days, and a visa to Montenegro above. After all, children are the same citizens as adults.
Inaccuracies and passport information for the youngest children came from the fact that some families crossed the border in Montenegro at less popular border crossings (e.g. with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia) and were asked for children’s passports for inspection, because there are no temporary ID for minors. Only after the age of 18 is the ID issued in this country. Therefore, for undereded or uninformed border guards, there was no such thing as a child ID card. In such situations, the embassy usually helped, and therefore for some time there was a message on their website to avoid stress for the youngest to have a passport ready for check-in. At airports and all popular border crossings with Montenegro, no such problems were noted.
The second issue concerns traveling of minors without parental or legal guardianship. For a child to cross the border in Montenegro without parental care, they need their written consent, notarized and translated into Serbian or Montenegrin by a sworn translator. This document must also contain information about the exact length of stay in Montenegro by the child, their personal data and ID card number, as well as all personal details of the guardian, who will take over the role of the parent at that time.
Other useful documents for traveling to Montenegro
As in any other country, it may be useful to provide additional accident insurance or car insurance for driving your own transport. It should also be remembered that if the car does not belong to you, you must have written consent of the owner of the car when entering Montenegro. Of course, similar to documents for children and permission for their journey without parents, notarized and translated into Montenegrin or Serbian by a sworn translator.
Green card to Montenegro
In addition, the Green Card issued by European insurance companies is in force in Montenegro – only the symbol MNE – Montenegro must be placed on it.
Health care in Montenegro is payable for EU citizens and EHIC doesn’t apply, so it is really worth buying travel insurance before leaving to cover your healthcare costs. Medical visits to Montenegro are not very expensive, but full surgical procedures, diagnostics or other treatment of random ailments can hit your wallet. Without private insurance, you can only count on free first aid and life-saving treatments, but you have to pay for the rest. After returning, you can of course apply for a refund from the relevant national offices by presenting the relevant documents. However, it is probably better to insure yourself separately for your own comfort.
When buying travel insurance, we advise you to pay special attention to the sub-item – medical transport, which is extremely expensive if you need our return to the country after an unfortunate accident or sudden illness. Then it is good that the amount allocated for insurance is as high as possible, otherwise you will have to cover the transport costs yourself.