The Montenegrin
passport ( cnr, crnogorski pasoš / црногорски пасош) is the primary document for international travel issued by
Montenegro
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.
The passport is issued by the
Ministry of Internal Affairs
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
or, if the citizen resides abroad, by a Montenegrin embassy or consulate. Besides serving as proof of identity and
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from
Montenegrin consular officials abroad, if needed. Citizens can not have multiple passports at the same time, unless they are of different category.
History
The first passports issued in Montenegro are from the 18th century, by Prince-Bishop
Vasilije III Petrović-Njegoš Vasilije () is a South Slavic masculine given name, a variant of Greek given name ''Vassilios'' ("Basil"). It may refer to:
* Vasilije, Serbian Patriarch (), Serbian cleric born Vasilije Jovanović-Brkić
* Vasilije Calasan (born 1981), French rac ...
.
After Vasilije, ethnicity was never a part of Montenegrin passports again. During the reign of Prince-Bishop
Petar I Petrović-Njegoš
Petar I Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар I Петровић Његош; 1748 – 31 October 1830) was the ruler of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro as the Metropolitan (''vladika'') of Cetinje, and Exarch (legate) of the Serbi ...
, a special document known as "Passport" ( sr, Пашепорт) was granted to the citizens who wanted extraordinarily to visit foreign countries.
During the reign of Prince-Bishop
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyrl, Петар II Петровић-Његош, ; – ), commonly referred to simply as Njegoš (), was a Prince-Bishop (''vladika'') of Montenegro, poet and philosopher whose works are widely considered ...
, he granted special Montenegrin Bills of Passage. From then on, next to every user of the bill and subsequent passports, "Montenegrin" was added, relating to the country of his or her birth. It also introduced the notification of which clan the individual is from. Later, Njegos formally instituted the official name as the "Montenegrin Passport".
It was composed of the Seal of the
Cetinje Metropolitanate's Righteous Soviet, a bicephalic white eagle with spread-out wings, an Eastern Orthodox cross between his heads, and a passing lion beneath it, altogether on a red background.
With the secularization of Montenegro as a
formal Princedom under
Prince Danilo I Petrovic-Njegos, religious affiliation and even physical description of the passport holder were introduced as of the mid 19th century, in attempt to prevent fraud.
The Seal was replaced with Danil's Coat of Arms, the lion was moved onto a red shield on the eagle's chest, while an Imperial crown was added.
The passports issued by
Nikola I Petrovic-Njegos were significantly changed in appearance, also losing any reference to nationality.
The same were the unrecognized passports published by the Montenegrin Government in Exile in 1919, after the country's annexation by Serbia.
Following the
breakup of Yugoslavia, passports were issued in order with the "''Law on Travel Documents of Yugoslav Nationals''" which came into force on 26 July 1996, although the country came into existence in 1992. They were navy blue in color and have two inscriptions in golden letters - ''Савезна Република Југославија'' (''
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
'') at the top and the word ''passport'' written in three languages: Serbian (Cyrillic script), English, and French at the bottom divided by the
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
. Following the restructuring of the FRY into the
State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...
in 2003, passports with the new name were not issued due to the expected breakup of the union, which eventually happened in 2006.
Following Montenegro's independence, citizens of
Montenegro
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, capital = Podgorica
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, largest_city = capital
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used the same travel document as
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
until 2008, the only difference being in issuing authority, in this case, the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro.
On 30 November 2006, the Government adopted the ''Memorandum of Agreement between the Republic of Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia on Consular Protection and Services to the Citizens of Montenegro''. By this agreement,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
, through its network of diplomatic and consular
missions, provides consular services to the Montenegrin citizens on the territory of states in which Montenegro has no missions of its own.
On 1 January 2010, the Government officially invalidated all non-biometric Montenegrin passports, even if the expiry date was beyond 1 January 2010. Because non-biometric Montenegrin passports were no longer considered valid travel documents from that date onwards, holders were obliged to apply for new biometric Montenegrin passports in order to travel.
Appearance
Design
The current passports are burgundy-red with the
Montenegrin coat of arms. The data page is printed in
Montenegrin,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and
French. Unlike previous passports issued throughout the history of Montenegro, which used both the
Cyrillic and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
alphabets, the current Montenegrin passport uses the Latin alphabet exclusively.
Integrated biodata card
The passport includes the following data:
*Type ('P' for passport)
*Country code ('MNE' for Montenegro)
*Passport no
*Surname
*Given names
*Nationality ('CRNOGORSKO' for Montenegrin)
*Date of birth (DD.MM.YYYY)
*Personal no (''
JMBG
Unique Master Citizen Number ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jedinstveni matični broj građana, Јединствени матични број грађана, separator=" / ", JMBG / ЈМБГ, mk, Единствен матичен број на граѓанин ...
'')
*Sex
*Place of birth
*Date of issue (DD.MM.YYYY)
*Issuing authority (Ministry of Interior of Montenegro)
*Date of expiry (DD.MM.YYYY)
*Signature
*Holder's portrait
The information page ends with the machine-readable zone. The Integrated biodata card also contains the
RFID chip.
Languages
The data page is printed in
Montenegrin,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and
French, while the personal data is entered in Montenegrin.
Types of passports
Passports that can be issued are:
*Ordinary passports, which are issued to all citizens.
:* Valid for 10 years
*Collective passports, which are issued to groups traveling together.
:* Valid for a single trip abroad.
:* Though it is not primary means of international travel for organised groups, it is often used to facilitate the issuance of visas or to decrease administrative costs if a lot of group members do not have their individual passports. Main users of these passports are high schools and tourist agencies.
:* Collective passports can be used for travel only to specific, usually nearby, countries. Some countries that do not accept collective passport as valid travel ID, do issue collective visas, but still stamp individual passports.
:* All members of the group must cross the border at the same time and be part of the same organized trip.
*Diplomatic passports, which are issued b
the Ministry of Foreign Affairsto diplomats, high-ranking officials, members of the Parliament, and persons traveling on official state business, and in some cases to immediate family members of the above.
:* Validity is determined by the nature of the position held - diplomats and officials will usually receive the passport covering their mandate in office.
*Official passports are identical in all aspects to the diplomatic passport, but lack the privileges of
diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country. . They are issued to mid- and low-ranking officials, as well as to non-diplomatic staff at embassies and consulates.
Visa requirements for Montenegrin citizens
![Visa requirements for Montenegrin citizens1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Visa_requirements_for_Montenegrin_citizens1.png)
Montenegrin citizens had visa-free or
visa on arrival
A visa (from the Latin ''charta visa'', meaning "paper that has been seen") is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on t ...
access (including
eTAs
The ETAS Group is a German company which designs tools for the development of embedded systems for the automotive industry and other sectors of the embedded industry. ETAS is 100-percent subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH.
Business
ETAS GmbH, f ...
) to 124 countries and territories, ranking the Montenegrin passport 46th in the world in terms of travel freedom (tied with the
Kiribati passport) according to the
Henley Passport Index
The Henley Passport Index ( abbreviation: HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom enjoyed by the holders of that country's ordinary passport for its citizens. It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restricti ...
.
See also
*
Visa requirements for Montenegrin citizens
*
Visa policy of Montenegro
*
Montenegrin identity card
*
Montenegrin nationality law
*
List of passports
A passport is a booklet issued by countries to their citizens, permitting the person to travel to other countries. In some cases countries issue travel documents similar to passports to their residents. International organizations also issue travel ...
References
External links
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration(with photos of the new Montenegrin identity papers: passport, ID card, driving licence)
{{Passports
Passports by country
Government of Montenegro