Retiring in Montenegro: Residence, Healthcare, Taxation and Daily Life

European Union citizens do not need a visa for a stay of under 90 days, with an identity card up to 30 days and a passport beyond that. France Diplomatie specifies that stays of more than three months require an application and that the travel document must remain valid for at least three months after the end of the visa; it recommends starting the procedures very early, as delays are long. A person staying with a private individual registers within 24 hours with the local tourist organisation or the foreigners’ police, on pain of a fine of at least 60 euros.

The official French pages describe no ground for residence specific to retirees and no quantified income condition: the residence permit, the proof of income and housing and the deadlines should be confirmed with the Montenegrin embassy in Paris and the Montenegrin Ministry of the Interior before settling. The entry and registration formalities are set out in the guide living in Montenegro.

Form S1, valid in the European Union and the European Economic Area, does not apply in Montenegro. It is the Franco-Yugoslav agreement of 1950, maintained for Montenegro by the agreement of 26 March 2003, that organises cover for a French or Montenegrin national who holds a French employee pension and has no right under Montenegrin legislation. CLEISS specifies that the retiree receives no certificate before departure: they contact the social security fund of their place of residence, which checks local legislation; if not covered, it sends form SE 21-34 to the French body that pays their basic pension, which replies with SE 21-35 (certificate) or SE 21-36 (refusal). If agreed, the Montenegrin fund covers their care and that of dependants living with them.

During temporary stays in France, form SE 21-35 opens cover under French law, with prior agreement of the CPAM (local health insurance office) after a medical check for hospitalisation of more than a month; only the pensioner and their minor children are covered, and a spouse who lives abroad is not, hence the value of private insurance. Retirees of the general scheme come under the national centre for retirees abroad (CNAREFE), attached to the CPAM of Seine-et-Marne. Local cover can be supplemented by the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’étranger, the French social security fund for expatriates; its retirees’ offer, with a contribution that depends on age and the plan chosen, cfe.fr) or by international insurance that opens access to private practitioners and repatriation; France Diplomatie recalls that the embassy cannot pay medical costs. See healthcare reimbursement in Montenegro, retirees’ health insurance abroad and retirement insurance abroad.

The list of treaties on impots.gouv.fr shows, for Montenegro, the treaty with the former Yugoslavia on income taxes, which also covers Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia. BOFiP (the French tax authority’s official doctrine) specifies that this treaty was signed in Paris on 28 March 1974, that it came into force on 1 August 1975 and that a succession agreement of 26 March 2003 maintains it in bilateral relations. It designates the State competent to tax pensions of French source; the summary consulted does not reproduce these articles, and the retiree reads them or has an adviser read them before choosing their tax residence. The French tax residence criteria (home, main place of stay, activity, centre of economic interests) can be checked on impots.gouv.fr: leaving for Montenegro does not automatically end it.

CLEISS recalls that a retiree who is no longer a tax resident in France no longer bears CSG, CRDS or CASA on their pensions; a health insurance contribution is levied if they remain tied to a French scheme, for example through temporary stays in France, at indicative rates of 3.2% on the basic pension, 4.2% on the supplementary pension and 7.1% on pensions of the self-employed workers’ schemes. In Montenegro, the insured pay 1% of their pension for health insurance (CLEISS). Local taxation of a Montenegrin resident should be confirmed with the local tax administration: no rate is repeated here without reading the official text.

For a retiree who has also worked in Montenegro, CLEISS recalls the rules of the local scheme: statutory age of 65 for men, with a minimum of 15 years of contributions, the age for women rising by three months a year to reach 65 in 2032; early retirement from age 63 with 15 years of contributions and a deduction of 0.35% per month of anticipation; full rate after 40 years of contributions, whatever the age; minimum pension and point value revised regularly. Family benefits and the other branches come under the 1950 agreement, which covers all insurance branches except unemployment; the arrangements for coordinating insurance periods should be confirmed with the pension fund and CLEISS.

The currency is the euro, accepted almost everywhere by card as well as in cash, with cash machines in the main cities. The Statistical Office (Monstat) publishes wages and consumer prices every month; a pension received in euros is compared with housing, transport and supplementary health insurance costs. France Diplomatie gives no level of rents. European Union roaming rules do not apply: a local plan reduces telecommunication costs.

France Diplomatie describes a semi-continental climate, with very cold winters in the mountains, heavy winter rain on the coast and in Podgorica and summer peaks around 40 °C inland. The main roads are in good condition, secondary roads often poor; night driving is dangerous in rural areas, and winter tyres are compulsory from 15 November. Summer fires are numerous, the seismic risk is real and flash floods can occur in winter and spring.

Podgorica (about 177,000 inhabitants), Nikšić, Bijelo Polje, Bar and Budva are the cities cited by France Diplomatie; the coast, from Bar to the Bay of Kotor, concentrates foreign residents, with a congested coastal road between Budva and the bay. The French community has about 160 residents according to France Diplomatie, which makes the link with the embassy (98 George Washington boulevard, Podgorica) and the French school, opened on 3 September 2018, all the more useful. In the mountains, it is inadvisable to go alone; away from marked trails, a local guide is recommended.

• Inform the pension fund, the CPAM and the supplementary funds of the change of residence.
• Prepare the file for the local fund: application for cover and forms SE 21-34, SE 21-35 or SE 21-36 depending on the situation.
• Study the CFE (retirees’ offer) or international insurance within three months of departure to avoid the waiting period.
• Check the residence permit with the Montenegrin embassy and start the procedures very early.
• Read the 1974 tax treaty and determine your tax residence before departure.
• Build up a stock of medicines for long-term treatments, as only a list of medicines is authorised.
• Register with Fil d’Ariane and with the French embassy.

To compare contracts, see expat health insurance and Montenegrin healthcare system.