Law on Montenegrin Nationality (“Official Gazette of Montenegro”, No. 13/08) shall regulate the manner of and conditions for acquiring and losing Montenegrin nationality.

I ACQUIRING OF NATIONALITY

Montenegrin nationality shall be acquired by:

1) origin;

2) birth in the territory of Montenegro;

3) admittance

4) international treaties and agreements.

1. Montenegrin nationality by origin is acquired by a child:

- whose both parents are Montenegrin nationals at the moment of the child’s birth;

- whose one parent is Montenegrin national at the moment of child’s birth, and the child was born in Montenegro;

- whose one parent is Montenegrin national at the moment of child’s birth, the other parent does not have nationality or is of unknown nationality or is unknown, and the child was born in the territory of another state;

- whose one parent is Montenegrin national at the moment of child’s birth, and the child was born in the territory of another state, if the child is to remain without nationality;

- born in the territory of another state, whose one parent is Montenegrin national at the moment of child’s birth, if an application for entry into the Birth Register and Register of Montenegrin Nationals is submitted by the time the child turns 18 years of age, if the child does not have the nationality of another state;

- person who is 18 years of age, whose one parent is Montenegrin national, and the other parent is the national of another state, if an application for entry into Register of Montenegrin Nationals is submitted by the time child turns 23 years of age;

- in case of a complete adoption, if one of the adoptive parents is Montenegrin national.

2. Montenegrin nationality by birth in the territory of Montenegro shall be acquired by a child born or found in the territory of Montenegro, if both parents are unknown or of unknown nationality or without nationality or if the child is to remain without nationality.

3. Montenegrin nationality by admittance shall be acquired by a person who, in accordance with the interests of Montenegro, fulfills requirements prescribed in Articles 8 and 9, who was granted a permanent residence in Montenegro pursuant to the regulations of the Law on Foreigners, and who is married to a Montenegrin national for at least 3 years and who is granted a permanent residence in Montenegro or a person whose admission to nationality would be of special interest for Montenegro;

Montenegrin emigrant and a member of his/her family of the third degree of kinship in the direct line may acquire Montenegrin nationality by admission if they legally and continually reside in Montenegro for at least two years and fulfill conditions referred to in Article 8, paragraph 1, item 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 of the Law on Montenegrin Nationality.

A child acquires Montenegrin nationality by admittance, if:

1) both parents acquired Montenegrin nationality by admittance;

2) one of the parents acquired Montenegrin nationality by admittance and if

he/she legally and continually resides in Montenegro with the child;

3) legally and continually resides in Montenegro with adoptive parent who is a

Montenegrin national, in case of incomplete adoption.

II LOSS OF NATIONALITY

Montenegrin nationality may be lost:

-          upon a request of the Montenegrin national;

-          if so prescribed by law

-          by international treaties and agreements

1. Upon a request of the Montenegrin national, nationality is lost by release.

Release from Montenegrin nationality may be granted to a person who submitted an application for release and if he/she fulfills the following requirements:

-          is 18 years of age

-          he/she has another nationality or a proof that he/she will be admitted into nationality of another state;

-          actually resides in the territory of another state.

Application for release is submitted to the nearest DCRO of Montenegro, and the following is submitted with the application:

1. Certificate of birth;

2. Proof of Montenegrin nationality – certificate of nationality (not older than six months) or a valid passport (new form);

3. Proof that he/she is of foreign nationality or possesses a guarantee that he/she will be admitted into foreign nationality (and for a child, if the child is included in the parents’ application);

4. Opinion of the competent guardianship authority or a DCRO opinion, when an applicant and children reside abroad, and marital relations are disturbed;

5. Certified written consent of the other parent, if by this application also release from nationality is required for children up to 18 years of age as well;

6. Final court decision on divorce (if parents are divorced);

7. Opinion of the competent guardianship authority in Montenegro or DCRO in case the other parent does not give consent for release of the child from nationality, or the permanent residence is unknown, or he/she is deprived of legal capacity and parental right.

If a child is older than 14 years of age, the child’s consent is necessary for release from Montenegrin nationality.

2. Loss of Montenegrin nationality if so prescribed by law

Law on Montenegrin Nationality, Article 24, inter alia, stipulates that that nationals of age who have nationality of another state lose Montenegrin nationality, save for the case when nationality of another state is acquired prior to promulgation of independence of Montenegro, i.e. prior to June 3^rd 2006.

3. Loss of Montenegrin nationality by international treaties and agreements

Montenegrin nationality may be lost by international treaties or agreements concluded by Montenegro.

Law on Travel Document (“Official Gazette of Montenegro”, No. 21/08), which has started to apply from July 1, 2008, prescribes that the following travel documents are issued to nationals of Montenegro: passport, diplomatic passport, official passport, travel certificate as well as travel documents issued in accordance with international agreements. A seaman's book is also considered a travel document when accompanied by a valid visa.

Diplomatic and consular representative offices of Montenegro may issue to Montenegrin nationals staying abroad the following documents:

- Passport
- Travel certificate

During his/her stay abroad, Passport serves the passport holder as proof of identity and proof of Montenegrin nationality.

Travel Certificate is issued to Montenegrin national who, while abroad, has lost his/her passport -for his/her return to Montenegro.

PASSPORT

The following documents along with the applicant’s personal presence are required for the issuance of new biometric passport:

-          Birth certificate
-          Certificate of Montenegrin citizenship
-          Old passport or valid ID card as a proof of identity.

For submitting a passport application for children under 18, both parents must appear in person with a child or submit properly certified consent of the parent not present which must be translated into Montenegrin language.

The period of validity of passport is ten (10) years. Exceptionnally, Passport is issued with a period of validity of two (2) years to a child up to four years of age.

During his/her stay in Montenegro, the foreigner may submit a passport application to the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration – its municipal branches according to his/her place of residence, or to consulates general in Frankfurt and New York, so far.

Montenegrin nationals whose passport has expired during their stay abroad will be issued a travel certificate for their return to Montenegro at the nearest diplomatic or consular representative office of Montenegro. If Montenegro has no diplomatic or consular representative office in the country in question, they may be issued a travel certificate in the diplomatic or consular representative office of Serbia, or if staying in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova and Kazakhstan - in Bulgarian diplomatic or consular representative office in these countries.

When a child is born abroad, the parent should file a request for entry into the register of births and the register of citizens of Montenegro.

The request for entry into the register should be filed to the competent diplomatic or consular representative office of Montenegro abroad, with a multilingual international form, or with the birth certificate accompanied by a translation into our language verified by a notary or a certified translator. The request is forwarded to the country by the diplomatic or consular representative office for further procedure of entry into the register of births.

 TRAVEL CERTIFICATE

If a passport is lost abroad Montenegrin national should immediately, without delay, report this to the local police authorities in order to get a police report. When the loss has been reported, the nearest diplomatic or consular representative office  of Montenegro should be informed on the matter for the purpose of issuing travel certificate.

The following documents are required for issuance of travel certificate:

- Certificate of Montenegrin citizenship
- Proof of identity
- Two photos (3,5 x 4,5 cm)

If the any of above-stated documents are not in the possession of the applicant or cannot be obtained, competent diplomatic or consular representative office shall provide necessary documents for the purpose of issuing travel certificate and enable return to Montenegro.

Where there is no Montenegrin diplomatic or consular representative office, Montenegrin nationals may contact Serbian diplomatic or consular representative office in order to provide them consular protection and issue travel certificate. Also, Montenegrin nationals in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Kazakhstan may contact diplomatic or consular representative office of Bulgaria.

Consulates and consular departments of embassies are “state in small”.

General consular functions are:

1. Protection, in foreign state, of interests of Montenegro and its nationals, legal entity and physical persons, according to the International Law;
2. Registering of newborns and marriages, but there is no possibility that a couple can get married (celebration of marriage) in any of our diplomatic or consular representative offices;
3. Exercising the function of public notary for purposes of verifying the signatures, transcripts, photocopies and authorizations. Providing necessary documents for Montenegrin nationals (certificate of birth, nationality and else);
4. Passport issuing for Montenegrin nationals. Visa issuing.
5. Serving legal documents (summons and other), making testaments and protecting interests of Montenegrin nationals regarding heritage matters in receiving state.
6. Providing help and protection in the case of arrest, servitude, or in a case of accident of Montenegro nationals;
7. Development of economic relations on local and regional levels, public informing, cultural promotion of the country, help in organizing diaspora and its clubs and associations.

These are just some of the general functions, but consulates also have other tasks within their jurisdiction.